(Newser)
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Facebook’s estimated market value has shot past eBay’s, making it the third most valuable web company. Shares of the privately held company are now trading at more than $16 on SecondMarket, sources tell Bloomberg, which would make the overall company worth $41 billion—behind only Amazon ($74.4 billion) and the big kid on the block, Google ($192.2 billion).
SecondMarket doesn’t publicly release trading data, but Bloomberg’s source said Facebook’s price has tripled over the past year. Another private exchange estimates Facebook’s value at $40.9 billion, and says it’s shot up nearly 50% in the past month alone. Those valuations might change drastically on the open market, however. “It could be a bargain at $41 billion,” says one IPO consultant. Then again, Facebook doesn’t disclose financial information, and a spokesman cautioned that all external value estimates are “fundamentally speculative.”
