Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday will sell $2.3 billion worth of his company's stock largely to pay tax bills on options that he is exercising.
The sale is part of a 70 million share offering. Zuckerberg is selling 41.35 of those shares. Marc Andreessen, a Facebook investor, is also selling 1.6 million shares. Facebook's stock was trading at $54 Thursday morning, valuing Andreessen's sale at around $86.4 million. The remaining 27.05 million are newly issued Facebook shares.
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Facebook "intends to use the net proceeds of the offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes," according to a press release from the company. In September, Forbes estimated Zuckerberg's fortune at $19 billion, double last year's amount. Facebook's stock has risen 108% over the last year.