I think most of the $2B (1.5B in fact) is a "liquidity" opportunity for employees with significant amount of stock. In that light, Goldman's clients are getting

I think most of the $2B (1.5B in fact) is a "liquidity" opportunity for employees with significant amount of stock. In that light, Goldman's clients are getting a good deal (and obviously Goldman) and so are the employees selling the stock. Now, you may wonder why someone would sell a stock they are highly confident will appreciate? When you have $60m, but all of that tied in Facebook stock, you would rather forgo the opportunity to gain another $10m in order to sell a quarter ($15m) now, just so you have some cash to buy a house, a nice car, or whatever you want. At that level of wealth, the incremental benefits of additional money is greatly outweighed by the benefits to diversification and liquidity. I know that if I had $60m in Facebook stock, even if I believe each share are likely to be worth $40 in two years, I'd be willing to sell a quarter for $25 apiece just so I have a ton of cash at the moment. So while it's true that it's strange that Facebook is selling so many shares to Goldman, it's less strange if you consider that FB is staying private much longer than Google, and thus has many employees whose wealth is still largely tied to a private, non-liquid stock.