NEW YORK - SOCIAL network Facebook has delayed a plan to allow its employees to sell their shares in the privately held company because of the global economic downturn, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The Journal said Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg had notified the startup's employees in an email on Thursday that the stock sale plan would not be proceeding as scheduled.

'I'm writing this note to let you know some bad news,' technology website Valleywag.com quoted the email from Zuckerberg as saying. 'Despite a lot of work, we have not been able to finalize a plan for the employee stock sale we announced in August.'

The plan would have allowed some Facebook employees to sell a portion of their shares vested by Nov 1 at around a US$4 billion (S$6.06 billion) company valuation, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the details.

Valleywag said the plan would have allowed some of Facebook's 800 employees to sell 'no more than US$900,000 or 10 per cent of their stock holdings, whichever was less.'

The Journal said the company would revisit whether to go ahead with the plan 'based on market conditions.'

The stock sale was an attempt by Facebook's management to retain employees while preparing a public offering. In the depressed economic climate, however, there has been no indication as to when an IPO might go ahead.

US software giant Microsoft bought a 1.6 per cent stake in Facebook last year for US$240 million, valuing the California company on paper at US$15 billion.

But the Journal said Facebook had difficulty finding investors to help fund the plan at even the US$4 billion valuation of the company.

Silicon Valley technology stocks have lost much of their value over the past year and doubts have arisen about Facebook's potential to capitalise on its popularity and turn into a money-making business. -- AFP