His private equity firm bought a 2.3 percent stake in the social network company.
Bono's about to become the richest man in rock, and it has nothing to do with his record sales. The U2 frontman's private equity firm, Elevation Partners, was an early investor in Facebook, which is about to hit the stock market at a record valuation, launching the millionaire singer into the billionaire club.The payout for the firm's 2.3 percent stake in the social network site will be worth an estimated $1.5 billion, Benzinga reports. That's more than seven times the $195 million Bono collected from record sales and touring the last two years and enough to make the rock star, who has an estimated worth of $900 million, a billionaire.
It will also make him the richest rocker in the world, ahead of Paul McCartney who's reigned atop the industry's wealth charts with his estimated $1 billion fortune. Bono is the one musician among a slew of finance heavyweights (like Goldman Sachs, Russian tycoon Yuri Milner), tech hotshots (Zynga co-founder Mark Pincus, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel) and close associates, friends and family members of Facebook founder Marc Zuckerberg, who are set to become (if they aren't already) billionaires overnight. Excitement about a legitimate rock star's inclusion in the wonky group has inspired rumors that Bono may be the one to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange Friday. According to Businesweek, customers of Irish bookmaker Paddy Power Plc. were giving it 100 to 1 odds (meaning a $1 bet would yield a $100 prize) back in February. Odds that Zuckerberg or someone a bit closer to the center of the action ushers in trading were much more likely.
Friday, 421 million shares of Facebook will begin trading on The Nasdaq at $38 each, making it one of the largest initial public offerings in history.
Source: NBC Chicago
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