Microsoft Antes Up for Facebook
Microsoft apparently beat out Google yesterday and
won
a piece of social networking company Facebook. Microsoft agreed to pay $240
million for a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook. That would put Facebook's total
value at about $15 billion. At this level of investment, each of Facebook's
50 million users is worth $306.12 to Microsoft.
Microsoft's investment guarantees the software company's exclusive right to
sell Facebook's international advertising. Clearly, Microsoft sees online advertising
as its next growth business.
Getting a piece of the exploding interest in social networking seems to be
the biggest prize of the last year, and Microsoft has won the latest battle.
Is Facebook in particular or social networking in general a worthy partner for
a software company like Microsoft? Is the company worth $15 billion? Send me
your thoughts to [email protected].
Posted by Peter Varhol on October 25, 2007