I am a foreigner. Can I buy stakes in private companies like Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter?

[Recycle M]

I am a foreigner. Can I buy stakes in private companies like Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter before they go for an initial public offering? I heard there are secondary exchange companies promote does transactions like that between Facebook, Twitter etc but is it safe to go through them?

[John W]

Whether you're a foreigner or not is irrelevant so long as taxes are paid. Private companies are "private" which means their shares aren't "publicly" traded which means you can't buy them on a "public" stock exchange. If you know someone who has shares in those companies, you can approach them and try to convince them to sell those shares to you.

[craven morehead]

Yes. You need millions of dollars though to be a client of Goldman Sachs private wealth management division. But once you get your millions of dollars and Goldman Sachs accepts you, you have to beg them to let you in to their Special Investment Vehicle for investing in privately held companies like Facebook.