It was not very long ago that Microsoft paid a staggering $240 million for 1.6-percent of shares in Facebook. That forced everyone to believe that the company was well worth over $15 billion in the market.

Image courtesy of pshabBut that little investment by Microsoft seems to be more a gesture of commitment and goodwill towards a hopeful future partnership rather than an accurate estimation of the Facebook stock.

In a recent goof up, the social networking giants themselves revealed that they value their stock at $8.88 per share, putting the company at a market value of just around $3.7 billion!

The startling new revelation came up when the Associated Press was able to retrieve some details from the transcript of a June court hearing held over a legal settlement between Facebook and ConnectU, which had blacked-out segments in them. While it is hard to imagine how Facebook would make such a naive mistake, it does substantiate the growing opinion that the company is not worth as much as the $15 billion.

The fact that Facebook rates itself almost 3 times less, is an indicator that sometimes hype can easily conceal facts!