Alisher Usmanov Sells Facebook Stake For £338m

Russian Billionaire Rakes In HOW MUCH From Facebook Stock Recovery?
KAZAN, RUSSIA - OCTOBER 22: Russian billionaire, Alisher Usmanov during a State Council Session on October 22, 2009 in Kazan, Russia. (Photo by Konstantin Zavrazhin/Gety Images)
KAZAN, RUSSIA - OCTOBER 22: Russian billionaire, Alisher Usmanov during a State Council Session on October 22, 2009 in Kazan, Russia. (Photo by Konstantin Zavrazhin/Gety Images)
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Alisher Usmanov, Russia's richest man, has sold his remaining stake in Facebook for £338m ($528m) after the social network site saw a sharp recovery in its share price this year.

Usmanov, who has an estimated $18bn (£11.53bn) fortune, sold the last 142m shares he owns through his Mail.ru investment vehicle, equivalent to a 0.6% stake in Facebook. The Russian oligarch bought his Facebook stake originally in 2009 for around $200 million (£128 million).

Usmanov's Facebook share sale comes after the firm's share price managed to recover from a disastrous fall after it originally floated on the stock market last year.

In an initial pricing of $38 a share, Facebook stock dropped by over 50% in the first three months of trading amid accusations that the firm had been overvalued. The move was undermined by technical issues with the trading systems for Nasdaq, where the stock was listed.

Facebook's share price has managed to recover by around 125% in the last 12 months, spurred by its push into the mobile sector. The firm's shares were above $42 on Thursday.

Despite Usmanov selling his Facebook stake through Mail.ru, the Russian billionaire still owns an undisclosed stake in the tech giant through a separate holding called DST Global, a firm which holds shares in Twitter, Spotify and Groupon.

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