Los Gatos Homeowner Offers To Trade Estate For Millions In Facebook Stock
LOS GATOS (CBS 5) - A Silicon Valley executive has come up with a novel way to get in on Facebook's upcoming public stock offering.
Kenneth Raasch and his wife Linda are offering to trade their 7,000-plus square foot home in Los Gatos for $29 million worth of Facebook stock, ahead of the social media giant's move to go public.
Kenneth Raasch is a Silicon Valley veteran who took Media Arts Group Inc. public in 1994.
The home, known as the Forrester Estate, has six bedrooms and a guest apartment. It sits on 11 private acres. Real estate website Zillow.com estimates the home's value in the $3 million to $5 million range.
Silicon Valley could be due for a real estate boom after Facebook goes public later this year.
In its regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook Inc. indicated it hopes to raise $5 billion in its IPO. That would be the most for an Internet IPO since Google Inc. and its early backers raised $1.9 billion in 2004. The final amount will likely change as Facebook's bankers gauge the investor demand.
Visit the Forrester Estate website for the complete virtual tour of the Los Gatos property.
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