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September 11, 2007 5:44 AM PDT

Is Facebook ready to stuff its treasure chest with more booty?

by Caroline McCarthy
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Another day, another clump of Facebook financial dirt.

Kara Swisher at All Things Digital wrote early Tuesday that "according to sources," Facebook is considering the possibility of a massive new investment round. If this turns out to be true, it could lift the company's much-talked-about valuation even further into the stratosphere. Facebook's last investment round, a $25 million bounty in 2006, pushed its pre-money valuation to about $525 million. This rumored new round, which Swisher claims is "well beyond" that scope, could solidify Facebook's position in the $6 billion to $10 billion club (where, thus far, only speculation has placed it).

Swisher also speculates that Microsoft could be one of the potential players in this murky new investment round; Microsoft, after all, is responsible for the advertising contract that makes up a considerable chunk of Facebook's revenue, and it's also one of the names that pops up the most as buyout rumors surface and resurface.

"While its revenues are growing strongly, insiders report, so are its costs," Swisher's post explains, "as it ratchets up headcount and features and services. Thus, it will need a lot of investment to kept competitive, including increasing its international profile."

Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline.
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About The Social

CNET News' Caroline McCarthy is a downtown Manhattanite who believes that, despite popular opinion, the Web can actually help your social life. She's happily addicted to fun social-media tools from Twitter to Yelp to Facebook, sends an inordinate number of text messages, and has a tendency to waste time at the office reading restaurant blogs. Here, she explores all facets of the Web's gregarious side, as well as the unique tech culture in her home city of New York. (Don't call it Silicon Alley.)

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