Facebook Inc’s first big investor, Peter Thiel sold 73 percent of his remaining stakes that was invested in the social media company. According to a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Peter sold 160,805 shares for $29 million. 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 as of 11:21 a.m. in New York.
Thiel became a Facebook investor and an integral part of the board way back in 2004; when Mark decided to turn his dorm room project into a business role model. At that time, Peter accounted for more than 44 million shares of Facebook, when it went public. He made an initial investment of $500,000 USD, which was valued at $5 million.
It started off when Thiel sold 16.8 million shares in the IPO, netting $640 million. However, Facebook’s lockup rules put a temporary stop as it required early shareholders to hold onto to their stocks for a certain period. As soon as the lockup period ended, Peter took advantage by selling 20 million of his remaining 26 million shares for $400 million in the same year, itself. Thereafter, in 2016, he again sold less than 1 million shares for about $100 million.
It does not come as a big surprise, because it is an ongoing thing about Thiel selling his Facebook stakes. Suddenly selling out 73% percent of his remaining shares makes us indubitable and we cannot elude the fact, perhaps, there might have been some clash of egos with Thiel and other members of the board. It does not really matter as the shares have been sold and definitely, makes the breaking news for your early morning coffee.
