Facebook Inc. (FB), in its first stock offering since going public last year, said the company and stakeholders are selling $3.85 billion worth of shares.

Facebook priced 70 million shares at $55.05 apiece, according to a statement yesterday. About 27 million will be offered by the company, with an additional 41.35 million by Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, who will use most of the cash to pay taxes incurred from exercising options.

The sale coincides with Facebook’s inclusion in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, an event that triggers demand from index funds and other institutions that need to purchase the stock. Facebook said it will use the proceeds for working capital and other corporate purposes. Marc Andreessen, a Facebook board member, is also selling 1.65 million shares.

Facebook closed unchanged at $55.05 in New York yesterday. The stock has more than doubled this year, rebounding from its troubled debut in May 2012 that wiped away half the company’s market value in its first three months on the market.

S&P had announced that as of the close of trading on Dec. 20, it plans to include Facebook’s Class A common stock in the S&P 500 Index. (SPX)

Zuckerberg is separately donating 18 million shares on Dec. 31, according to a filing on Dec. 19. Those shares, currently valued at $992 million, are being given to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

Previous Sale

Vanessa Chan, a spokeswoman for Facebook, declined to comment. Sue McAllister, a spokeswoman for the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The charity donation plus his share sale accounts for more than 10 percent of Zuckerberg’s Facebook holdings. Along with a stock sale for tax purposes and a charity contribution last year, the CEO has sold or gifted about 20 percent of his Facebook stake.

Zuckerberg is the 22nd-richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with a net worth of $26.9 billion.