Facebook Raises $1.5 Billion

Facebook said today it has raised $1 billion from non-U.S. investors, which combined with an infusion from Russia’s Digital Sky Technologies and Goldman Sachs in December, brings the total from its latest round of funding to $1.5 billion.The investments value the social networking site at $50 billion more than the current market values eBay Inc or Yahoo Inc. but below those of Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. Facebook did not say how it plans to spend the $1.5 billion.The company had the option to raise up to $1.5 billion from non-U.S. investors through Goldman limited the offering to $1 billion. Spokesman Jonny Thaw declined to comment further on the decision to limit the offering which was oversubscribed .Earlier this week, Goldman said it was barring U.S. investors from taking part in the Facebook offering, citing widespread media coverage that could have violated securities guidelines that govern private placements. Facebook created a dual-class stock structure in 2009 to give CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives control over the company. Facebook’s investments are in Class A shares. Class B shares, held by executives and early employees hold 10 times the voting power of the Class A stock. The company expects to have more than 500 shareholders by the end of April this year.