Facebook, the popular social networking site, has raised $500 million from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and a Russian investor in a deal that values the company at $50 billion, The New York Times reported.

The investment would make Facebook worth more than media companies such as Time Warner Inc., eBay Inc. and Yahoo! Inc.

The new money will give Facebook more firepower to steal away valuable employees, develop new products and possibly pursue acquisitions — all without being a publicly traded company. The investment may also allow earlier shareholders, including Facebook employees, to cash out at least some of their stakes, the Times said.

The new investment comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission has begun an inquiry into the increasingly hot private market for shares in Internet companies, with some experts suggesting the inquiry is focused on whether certain companies are improperly using the private market to get around public disclosure requirements, the Times said.

The deal could add pressure on Facebook to go public even as its executives have resisted. The popularity of shares of Microsoft Inc. and Google in the private market ultimately pressured them to pursue initial public offerings, the Times said.