Facebook splits stock

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Facebook announced a 5-for-1 stock split Friday, the same day a controversial movie about the origins of the social networking giant hit theatres.

Facebook said the stock split would enable it to be more flexible in granting stock options to current and prospective employees.

The move is the third time that Facebook has split its shares, but the company has so far resisted all the temptations to cash in on its huge popularity by going public.

Existing shareholders in the company can trade their shares on a secondary stock market where the stock has recently traded above $70, reflecting a valuation of over $30 billion.

The Facebook movie, "The Social Network", chronicles the way CEO Mark Zuckerberg founded the company while a Harvard undergraduate. It has earned rave reviews from many critics and portrays the young billionaire as a computer-obsessed geek willing to trample on the privacy rights of others.

Zuckerberg reportedly vehemently objects to the way he is portrayed in the film. In what many observers are calling an expensive PR stunt, he announced last week that he is giving $100 million to the failing school system in Newark, New Jersey.