August 16, 2011 16:53

Bono to become a Facebook billionaire

The U2 man's investment in the social networking site has paid off

Photo Gallery: U2
Photo: PA

U2 frontman Bono is about to make $1 billion (£611 million), thanks to his 2009 investment in Facebook.

Bono’s investment company Elevation Partners bought $210 million (£128 million) worth of shares in the social networking site almost two years ago. This week the site has been valued at $65 billion (£40 billion), meaning that Bono and his company’s share of the business is now valued at a whopping $975m (£595 million).

Elevation Partners was valued at $50 billion (£30.5 billion) last December, before Facebook was re-valued at $65 billion (£40 billion), reports the Guardian.

U2 were recently named the world’s highest-earning musicians by Forbes over Bon Jovi, Elton John and Lady Gaga, making $195 million (£120 million) over the previous 12 months. They have just finished their 360 world tour in Canada, grossing over $736 million (£447 million) in the process.