Goldman deal values Facebook at 50bn dollars

Facebook has raised 500 million euros from US investment bank Goldman Sachs and a Russian investor that values the popular social networking sight at 50 billion dollars, the New York Times reported on Monday.

The investment puts the value of Facebook at higher than fellow Internet companies eBay and Yahoo!, as well as media company Time Warner, the newspaper said citing sources familiar with the deal.

The funds will give Facebook added resources to develop new resources, make acquisitions and lure away top employees as it increasingly competes more directly with Internet search giant Google.