Billionaire buys stake in Facebook

SAN FRANCISCO – Facebook Inc. has raised $60 million from Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, adding to the list of financial heavyweights backing the online hangout’s rapid growth.

Li, 79, will receive a 0.4 percent stake in Palo Alto-based Facebook in return for his investment, according to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity because the person wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

The cash is coming from Li’s personal foundation, the person said. The billionaire’s business interests, anchored by the Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., aren’t involved.

The investment means the three-year-old startup now has support from both the richest man in Asia and the world’s largest software maker, Microsoft Corp., which paid $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake in October.

The stakes acquired by Li and Microsoft imply a $15 billion value for Facebook, which is privately held. That valuation presumes the company will substantially increase its revenue, which is expected to exceed $150 million this year.

Facebook hopes to boost its profits with new ways for advertisers to connect with its audience of 55 million users, now the second largest social network on the Web behind News Corp.’s MySpace.com.

A marketing initiative called Beacon, which Facebook introduced last month, agitated thousands of users because it circulated potentially sensitive information about their online purchases and other activity.

Stung by the backlash, Facebook last week promised it would no longer share any information collected in the Beacon program unless users gave their explicit permission.