Longtime Facebook board member Jim Breyer stepping down

Jim Breyer, the venture capitalist whose firm Accel Partners made an early bet on Facebook, is stepping down from Facebook's board, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Friday.

Bryer courted co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in Facebook's early days and eventually got him to agree to take a $12.7 million investment that valued the company at $93 million. What a bet that turned out to be -- for Breyer and his firm. Accel sold $2.1 billion worth of shares into Facebook's IPO last May. Last October, Breyer personally cashed in more than $81.1 million in Facebook shares, according to a SEC filing.

Breyer, who also serves on boards of Dell and Wal-Mart, will serve as director until Facebook's annual meeting on June 11.

In a statement emailed to CNET, Breyer confirmed that he is stepping down to focus on other responsibilities, including his recent election to the Harvard University Corporation Board.

Breyer said it was a "genuine honor" to serve as a Facebook investor and board member.

A Facebook spokesperson told CNET that it will continue to have a strong relationship with Breyer going forward. "Jim made many, many important contributions during his long tenure on the board and we were well-served by his presence."

"I will leave the board knowing that Facebook is a global Internet leader with exceptional leadership within the company and on the board," Breyer added.