Rumor: Facebook co-founder to sell 10 million shares

A new rumor is claiming that one of Facebook's co-founders wants to sell up to 10 million shares of the company's stock. It's clear that such a move would make the seller quite a bit of money, though given that we don't know which of the co-founders it could be, we can't speculate as to why he needs the cash.

In any case, the apparent decision to sell his portion of Facebook is reportedly raising eyebrows on Wall Street. At least one dealmaker has been approached by the co-founder's representatives, according to "a source close to the situation" cited by the New York Post. The sale could raise about $300 million, assuming it is based on recent secondary-market activity of $30 per share.

The social network has four co-founders, but only one of them still works for the company: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Assuming this rumor ends up being true, I think it's safe to assume that Zuckerberg is not the seller.

The other three co-founders are working on their own projects: Dustin Moskovitz (Asana), Eduardo Saverin (Qwiki), and Chris Hughes (Jumo). All three are more likely to sell their stakes if they need the capital to further their own projects.

Of course, the rumor could be wrong and a key Facebook investor, but not co-founder, could be interested in selling stock, such as Adam D'Angelo, Peter Thiel, or Sean Parker. Then again, the rumor could be completely off base in that nobody wants to sell Facebook stock but everyone wants to buy it.