Confirmed: Accel sold Facebook shares at $34B valuation

Looks like it isn’t just employees who are cashing out on their Facebook shares. TechCrunch reported earlier today that Accel Partners sold “very significant chunks” of its stake in the company (while also holding on to the vast majority of its shares), and I’ve confirmed the news with a source.

My source said that Accel sold its shares at a $34 billion valuation and that those shares added up to less than 20 percent of Accel’s total stake. Contrary to TechCrunch’s report, my source told me that Accel remains the largest venture shareholder in Facebook.

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I couldn’t get any information on who was doing the buying. TechCrunch doesn’t sound too sure about the details, but says it heard that Technology Crossover Ventures bought $200 million worth of shares, while Andreessen Horowitz bought $80 million.

Whatever the details, with this sale, Accel has clearly had a huge return on its $12.7 million investment in Facebook’s first round. And that will be dwarfed by how much the firm will earn if it keeps the rest of its shares until Facebook’s initial public offering.

Both Accel and Andreessen Horowitz declined to comment.