Facebook is now worth $50 billion, according to a report in The New York Times that says the company has raised $500 million in new funding from Goldman Sachs and Russian firm Digital Sky Technologies.

Goldman invested $450 million, while DST (which has already invested about $500 million into Facebook) provided the remaining $50 million. Goldman also plans to create a a4��Aspecial purpose vehiclea4��� to pool its clients and invest another $1.5 billion in Facebook without triggering the Securities and Exchange Commissiona4��a4�s 500-shareholder threshold, The Times says. (Companies that break the threshold are required to disclose more information publicly.)

When I emailed Facebook for confirmation, a spokesman told me the company has no comment.

Facebooka4��a4�s valuation has been climbing steadily on the secondary markets where shares are sold. (The SEC is now investigating those markets.) Early Facebook investor Accel Partners recently sold off some of its shares at a $34 billion valuation.

Facebook is expected to have its initial public offering as soon as 2012, although the company hasn&'t said anything specific on the matter. It reportedly brought in $2 billion in revenue in 2010, and chief Mark Zuckerberg has said that the company is barely profitable, because it&'s not focused on profits yet.

Last month, the second-hottest social networking company, Twitter, raised $200 million at a $3.7 billion valuation.

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Companies: Digital Sky Technologies, Facebook, Goldman Sachs

People: Mark Zuckerberg

Companies: Digital Sky Technologies, Facebook, Goldman Sachs

People: Mark Zuckerberg

Anthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.

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