Am I one of the few who thinks that this is absurd? This reminds me of that 37 Signals Article: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1941-press-release-37signals-... I realize that this valuation doesn't come from a VC investment but from a private stock exchange. Regardless, is Facebook really worth $50 billion though?

This is just a valuation based on the last traded price on a relatively illiquid market. If Facebook was traded on a public exchange (where all market participants would have access to Facebook's vital financials) or was just acquired would we know its true worth.

On a public exchange, there is more liquidity, but the valuation would still be based on the last traded price. Nevertheless, I guess this gets you closer to its "true worth"

It's all relative, but yes somebody obviously believes it is worth $50B.

Ya know who are the real winners in all this madness? SecondMarket and SharesPost.

This also makes great fodder for tech news outlets.

The people who get to take their equity off the table at 50B valuation aren't doing too badly either.

TC's constant appraisal of Facebook is annoying. They most likely have a deal of some sort.

They get the same deal as the rest of the media. They keep writing sensationalist stories, we'll keep talking about it, and advertisers pay them for it.

Annoying, yes. But really? A deal between FB and TC?