Everyone knows Facebook is loaded. Apparently, though, the company is more loaded than most people realized. Citing an inside source with access to Facebook’s financials, Gawker is reporting today that Facebook is sitting on $3.5 billion in cash reserves, with total assets worth $5.6 billion and no debt. Moreover, the company had earned $714 million in profits as of September, when the records are dated, which means that they could well clear $1 billion in profit for 2011.

A cash pile that size gives Facebook an awful lot of room to maneuver. While it doesn’t quite put them on a level with the giant names of the tech industry, it does make them a force to be reckoned with. With that kind of cash, Facebook has the clout to expand in almost any direction they want – including into the mobile space with the long-rumored Facebook phone.

Facebook has continued to grow and to rake in cash over the past few years, in spite of a recurring cycle of concerns and controversies over the company’s handling of private user data.

The source also broke down the ownership of the company. The largest shareholder is Facebook’s employees, who collectively own 30% of the company. Others, including Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, etc., own bits and pieces. Founder Mark Zuckerberg is the largest individual shareholder, with a 24% stake. While the report doesn’t say what that means in monetary terms, it’s quite likely that it leaves Zuckerberg enough cash to do something like this:

For all that Facebook’s money bin may seem full to bursting now, the company will likely keep pulling in cash hand over fist. The company is likely to make around $10 billion from its IPO, which is expected sometime in the second quarter of next year.

[Source: Gawker]