Facebook's stock: Insiders can now start selling (pictures)

Starting tomorrow, Facebook insiders will be able to start selling some of their pre-IPO shares. Here are seven big holders.

Paul Sloan

Aug. 15, 2012 4:06 p.m. PT

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Declan McCullagh/CNET

Peter Thiel

Thiel made a big bet on Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 when he put $500,000 into Facebook, becoming one of the first outside investors in the social network. He cashed out $640 million in the IPO -- at a price more than 40 percent above where the stock trades now -- and it's never easy to sell a stock when it was worth so much more just a few months ago. We wouldn't expect him to immediately dump his holdings, but who knows. He could gradually start letting some go.

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Wikipedia/Bkahvedzic

James Breyer and Accel Partners

Breyer, with Accel Partners, courted Zuckerberg hard 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. Accel already sold $2.1 billion worth of stock into the IPO, so selling more soon doesn't seem like an obvious move. It still owns 35.7 million Class A shares, and 7.9 million Class B shares.

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Greg Sandoval/CNET

Bono and Elevation Partners

Bono is a partner at Elevation Partners, a Silicon Valley venture firm that's had its share of struggles, such as its investment in Palm. And then there's its Facebook bet, which it made in 2009. Elevation sold $176 million worth of stock at the IPO but still has 35.5 million Class B shares that it might be eager to get rid of.

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James Martin/CNET

Microsoft

Steve Ballmer tried to buy Facebook outright in 2007 for $15 billion, but Mark Zuckerberg wasn't interested. Instead, Microsoft's CEO scored a deal in which Microsoft invested $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake. Microsoft cashed in $249 million at the IPO but still holds 26.2 million Class B shares. The company wants to do more, not less, with Facebook, so it seems unlikely that cash-rich Microsoft will start selling.

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Screenshot by CNET

Yuri Milner

The Russian tycoon Yuri Milner wooed Zuckerberg in 2009 and made an investment that's already paid off big time. He's cashed out more than $1.7 billion at the IPO, and might be looking to shed some more, especially considering that two of his other big bets -- Zynga and Groupon -- are cratering. His investment firm, DST Global, still owns 80.6 million Class B shares, and 5 million Class A.

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Rafe Needleman/CNET

Mark Pincus

Pincus, the CEO of Zynga, was an angel investor in Facebook, having put up $40,000 alongside investments by Peter Thiel and Reid Hoffman. He recently took some stock off the table -- to the tune of $38.9 million -- but he still owns 4.3 million Class B shares. And Pincus has been in a selling mood of late. He's being sued for selling shares of Zynga at $12 a share just before the stock started to tank. It wouldn't be surprising to see Pincus dump more Facebook stock, and fast.

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James Martin/CNET

Reid Hoffman

The LinkedIn founder, who invested in Zuckerberg early on, put in only $40,000, partly because he was building his own social network. He cashed out $36 million at the IPO but still sits on 3.8 million Class B shares. He seems unlikely to run for the exit.