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September 21, 2006, 12:41 PM ET
Rupert Got a Good Deal
When Facebook announced that it would open its membership to all computer users (The Chronicle, September 14), it ruffled the feathers of some of its most devoted campus clientele. But the social-networking site probably had prospective buyers salivating at its newfound potential for growth.
That may have been Facebook’s plan all along. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Facebook is "in serious talks" to sell itself to Yahoo, the Internet-media giant, for almost $1-billion. That figure would dwarf the $580-million that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation shelled out last year for MySpace—which is still, by a fair margin, the Web’s most trafficked social network.
Rumors have swirled about an impending Facebook sale since March, when BusinessWeek reported that the company turned down a $750-million offer from an unnamed bidder. At the time, Facebook was said to be holding out for a $2-billion payday, but it appears that the site—despite talks with Microsoft and Viacom—will have to settle for something ever-so-slightly more reasonable. —Brock Read
Categories: Student-Life, Company-Watch
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