The last time anything similar happened was in late November; Li Ka-shing came forward with $60 million.  Before that, it was Microsoft’s turn in late October with $240 million.  Facebook’s investors aren’t in any rush to turn over their money.

The Samwer brothers have indeed made the decision to do so, though, according to Michael Arrington.  By way of background information, he writes, "The Samwer brothers . . . founded Alando (sold to eBay in 1999 for $54 million) and Jamba (sold to Verisign in 2004 for $273 million, now part of News Corp.).  In 2006 they founded the European Founders Fund to support Internet businesses in the U.S. and Europe.  They have investments in LinkedIn, MFG.com, HomeAway and ReachLocal."

One of the most important pieces of information – the size of the Samwer brothers’ contribution – remains unknown.  Still, it looks like they could easily match the funding from either Ka-shing or Microsoft, and we’ll watch closely for further details.