The Wall Street Journal’s Vauhini Vara and Rebecca Buckman got the news straight from Brandee Barker, a Facebook spokeswoman, and the pair go on to describe the company’s move as “a bid to further professionalize its management ranks and find new ways to make money.”

Indeed, it seems as if Palihapitiya is used to working with large sums of cash.  “My passion is poker,” he writes in a “Fun Facts” section of his Mayfield profile.  “I . . . regularly play very high-limit or no-limit hold ‘em games in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Atlantic City, and have played against many of today’s top pros.”

Palihapitiya’s bluffing skills may come in handy at his new company – Facebook is currently the subject of a lot of “will they-won’t they” IPO speculation.  Corporate reps and execs are (mostly) keeping quiet, but earlier this morning, our David Utter collected several clues that point to a “they will” outcome.

In any case, Palihapitiya should bring a great deal of experience to the social networking company; according to the WSJ, he will be “‘transitioning out’ from his job as a principal at the Mayfield Fund over the next two weeks.”