Facebook investor cashes out

Facebook director Peter Thiel has cashed the majority of his stock in the social networking company, equating to 20m shares worth around US$400m.

After a selection of Facebook insiders became eligible to sell stock they own in the social networking company due to the expiry of a ‘lock-up’ period, up to US$1.91bn shares were available for sale.

The industry did not expect any action on the market, however, but Thiel sold his shares on Thursday and Friday – for prices ranging between $19.29 and $20.69 per share.

If fellow insiders follow suit and the $1.91bn shares do flood the exchange, it would represent four times the 421m shares currently trading since Facebook’s initial public offering in May.

The PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor still owns around 5.6m shares of the company but declined to comment on the sales, released through a regulatory filing.

Shares of Facebook finished Monday's regular trading session at $20.01, representing a near 50% decline from their $38 offering price in May.

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