**Thiel’s Facebook Exit**

Peter Thiel turned a **$500,000 investment** in Facebook into roughly **$1 billion**, while retail investors were down 47% from the IPO price.

 **2004**: Thiel invests $500,000 for roughly 10% of Facebook.

 **May 18, 2012**: Facebook IPOs at $38. Thiel sells 16.8 million shares for $640 million and sets up a plan to sell the rest before the stock trades for an hour.

 **August 16-17, 2012**: He sells 20.6 million more shares at $19-$21 after the first lockup expires.

 He keeps **5.6 million shares** and his board seat.

The exit turned an early stake into $1 billion in cash, while the stock closed at **$20.01** on August 20, 2012.

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