Billionaire Peter Thiel, one of the early investors in Facebook Inc., just sold 73 per cent of his stake in the social-media company this week. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Thiel has a net worth of $3.2 billion, including a stake in data analytics company Palantir Technologies Inc.,
Peter Thiel popularly referred to as Paypal billionaire, invested $500,000 in Facebook Inc in 2004. In May 2012 , He also sold 16.8 million shares in the company’s May initial public offering, making $640m. He later sold 20 million shares of Facebook through affiliates such as his Founders Fund and other firms at a rate between $19.27 and $20.69, for a total of $396 million in the same year.
Thiel, a member of Facebook’s board, sold 160,805 shares for $29 million, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. The transactions are the latest in a series of sales in recent years that have left Thiel, with 59,913 shares valued at $11 million in New York.
Facebook shares have increased by 58 per cent this year, adding $25 billion to co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune and making him the world’s fourth-richest person with $74.9 billion.
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