Finally Facebook Inc(NASDAQ:FB) founder Mark
Zuckerberg has stepped in to restore investor confidence and instil some
much-needed optimism among employees
Late Tuesday, Chief Executive Zuckerberg pledged
that he would not sell shares in the company for more than a year.
The moves, announced in a regulatory filing,
effectively reduce the amount of Facebook stock that is liquid in the market.
Expiry of locked-in shares last month have resulted in a deluge of shares of
the company in the stock markets as early stage large insider investors have
been selling their holdings. More shares are expected to be released in the
market.
The social networking site said two of its
directors, Marc Andreessen and Donald Graham, also have no plans to sell their
personal stock in the company, beyond the amount needed to cover their tax
liabilities.
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The company also detailed how it will issue
restricted stock units to staff in October. The company plans to withhold 45
percent of the value of those shares to cover tax liabilities. Doing so will
effectively remove 101 million shares outstanding in the company for accounting
purposes. The company also moved the lockup date for some employees' stock to
Oct. 29 from Nov. 14.
In
another move the reclusive Facebook founder will sit down next week for a rare
onstage interview at a technology conference in San Francisco, his first public
appearance since his company's disastrous stock market debut.
Investors
have been clamouring to hear Zuckerberg's take on his company's challenges and
the stock's collapse, yet he has stayed out of the public eye, even amid calls
for his resignation.
Facebook's stock price dropped to a new low
Tuesday, closing down 1.8 percent to close at $17.73. Shares of the company rose over 2% in after hours session.
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