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Microsoft in Talks to Buy Facebook Stake Valuing The Company at $10 Billion
online.wsj.com — Microsoft's approach to Facebook in recent weeks with proposals to invest in the fast-growing site is part of the software giant's effort to catch up with the Internet rival Google. If successful, Microsoft's talks with Facebook could give it an up-to-5% stake in the closely-held startup —a stake potentially valued at roughly $300 to $500 million...
michaelstokes- 895 diggs
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- Verdanic, on 10/10/2007, -18/+129As long as they don't get a significant say in design changes to Facebook. Microsoft doesn't understand the internet yet.
- inertic, on 10/15/2007, -26/+51The minute Microsoft owns facebook, is the the minute I deactivate my account, after deleting everything of course since you can't really deactivate it.
- Xizer, on 10/10/2007, -28/+19Great example of a fanboy douchebag with an irrational hatred of Microsoft right there. I bet everyone digging his comment up are jerking off to their Mac keyboards at this very moment.
- jabab, on 10/10/2007, -5/+26Sometimes people have a rational hatred of Microsoft. Ever tried web developing for internet explorer?
- luchid, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Live Spaces is really popular outside the US and it SUCKS... it's completely ass backwards, no logic, no consistent navigational elements, the whole site is a mess. It goes down a lot, pictures are resized to oblivion and it only works right on IE,
- inertic, on 10/10/2007, -16/+6Awww, someone's mommy wouldn't buy them a macbook and now they bitch about macs.
- BlakeEM, on 10/10/2007, -4/+13If Microsoft took it over we may see big flashy adds (lot like Myspace is now). They did the same thing with hotmail way back. It got more ads and got a lot slower and more clumsy. I think the hate for Microsoft is well founded, and this coming from someone that uses windows 90% of the time (Linux the other 10%)
- jabab, on 10/10/2007, -5/+26Sometimes people have a rational hatred of Microsoft. Ever tried web developing for internet explorer?
- iffypop, on 10/10/2007, -17/+8Hating Microsoft gives your life meaning. Poor you.
- HerrEisenheim, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2You actually can't ever "delete" anything from Facebook. Ever. Even when you delete a picture, it doesn't actually delete, the link just becomes inactive. The file remains on the server. Even when you email them to have your account permanently deactivated, everything remains on the server. The only difference is that it is set to "private" and the email address is released from the account, so you can re-register. My guess is this isn't even done intentionally, just part of the database design.
- PRlME, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6yea like your really going to put a dent in there pockets
- Xizer, on 10/10/2007, -28/+19Great example of a fanboy douchebag with an irrational hatred of Microsoft right there. I bet everyone digging his comment up are jerking off to their Mac keyboards at this very moment.
- ShogunWarPig, on 10/10/2007, -3/+17Im pretty sure Microsoft realizes that the internet is a series of tubes......
- MatttK, on 10/10/2007, -5/+23That's not totally true. Look at Xbox Live: it's the only good online service for consoles. And it actually is good, not just good by comparison.
- funktimus, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6yeah but you gotta pay for it.... their free service zone from back in the day was definitely nothing to write home about.
- rullingen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Personal Profiles, locations and target groups on millions of average users coupled with browser and OS specs?
Sounds valuable enough without changing it to me. - Sushubh, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8you guys need to see this:
http://advertising.microsoft.com/facebook
microsoft manages ads for facebook. they do so for digg too i think.- mrtechbuzz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Interesting Digg Stats on the site;
Digg.com users are very engaged and represent a strong combination of technical influencers and early adopters.
These are the key demographic* indicators:
o 66 percent male
o 42 percent 35 to 49 years old,
o 26 percent 21 to 34 years old
o 44 percent with annual income $75K and above
o 68 percent college and above education
o 14 percent professionals
o 10 percent executive or managerial occupation- kyrre, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10o 79 percent running Firefox with ad block.
- Daniel15, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1And exactly how do they find the average income and stuff? Surveying?
- mrtechbuzz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Interesting Digg Stats on the site;
- inertic, on 10/15/2007, -26/+51The minute Microsoft owns facebook, is the the minute I deactivate my account, after deleting everything of course since you can't really deactivate it.
- hollyelise, on 10/10/2007, -18/+56Facebook has already been chewed up enough with all these "applications"... however I have added a few. But it must stop somewhere! I'd be much less worried if Apple was to buy Facebook than Microsoft, because Apple has always had a user-friendly, minimalistic approach.
- jellygraph, on 10/10/2007, -14/+17er. there are far bigger problems to worry about with apple, if they considered buying facebook. at least microsoft tries to look like the good guy. apple doesn't care, because people give them more slack and therefore have done far worse things than microsoft.
- kelly, on 10/10/2007, -4/+12The reason why people trust Apple more is because they have shown themselves to be more trustworthy. What you call slack, the rest of us call a a fair response
- MaZAKaR, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3*gulp* honestly? I bet all apple users are going to say Apple is the good guy, and then all PC users will say that Microsoft is the good guy... it's not even worth fighting over... :)
- Zap2, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Apple's styler is similar to facebook's...closed system. iPhone/iPod no 3rd party apps, computer have their software/hardware.
Heck, if Apple buys it we'd see it intergrated into iTunes, iPhone, iPod touch, iLife, .Mac etc....heck we might even see apps on facebook taken away!
- kelly, on 10/10/2007, -4/+12The reason why people trust Apple more is because they have shown themselves to be more trustworthy. What you call slack, the rest of us call a a fair response
- zybch, on 10/10/2007, -13/+6Except of course they would make it impossible for people to just need a net connection to use facebook. They'd put some stupid limitations on it so you'd have to use a mac or some such ***** to advance their new try-hard monopolistic business model (which they stole from 90's Microsoft).
- srg13, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1"They'd put some stupid limitations on it so you'd have to use a mac"
Yeah, just like iPod, iTunes, Safari, iPhone, Apple TV etc... Those bastards..
- srg13, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1"They'd put some stupid limitations on it so you'd have to use a mac"
- PixelVision, on 10/10/2007, -3/+13Apple will brick your facebook account!
- cnot3, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It would be shiney and your profile would be filled out in advance by apple.
- jellygraph, on 10/10/2007, -14/+17er. there are far bigger problems to worry about with apple, if they considered buying facebook. at least microsoft tries to look like the good guy. apple doesn't care, because people give them more slack and therefore have done far worse things than microsoft.
- aantix, on 10/10/2007, -19/+4I think that the applications only add value to the value of Facebook. I am honestly surprised that MySpace hasn't followed FB's lead and made their own API.
'I Never'; the popular drinking game comes to Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=17 ...- EuphopiaB, on 10/10/2007, -2/+51>c:/digg/aantix/comment.cpp(1) : error C2039: 'value' : is not a member of 'value'
- 5000brians, on 10/10/2007, -4/+12One person may have said people familiar with the matter or matters may expand agreements, may have said things about people, and/or persons. This person also may have said certain undisclosed companies may be in discussions. Another person unfamiliar with these talks said that the web-based, automated, platform portal could be valued as high as $100 billion.
- mastertop, on 10/10/2007, -4/+4True, that article must be a joke, buried as spam, 10 billions, seems fishy
- canewediggit, on 10/10/2007, -9/+14anybody want a piece of bubblicious?
- succubuskiller, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3hmm. I definitely want a piece.
- bigfkncee, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2huh?
- Azimuth1, on 10/10/2007, -7/+31Why couldn't I have been the one to create Facebook? :(
- picsectionpleez, on 10/10/2007, -4/+31you can always claim you did- that's what the current owners did
- inertic, on 10/10/2007, -3/+40Cuz u wasted your time on digg :P
- OBKenobi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2No truer words have been said on Digg.
Except perhaps for: It's a trap!
- OBKenobi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2No truer words have been said on Digg.
- jellygraph, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5i wouldnt fret about it. facebook was just lucky. i bet friendster, everyones connected, etc are all kicking themselves wondering why they didnt end up being facebook, and they were out even before facebook even existed
- succubuskiller, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It is not all luck. It is a combination of things. Why MySpace succeeded is because it leeched ideas and benefited from Friendster's poor system performance at the time. Once MySpace got bought out everyone want to be the MySpace++. The strongest thing that FaceBook has is the API they released essentially a Desktop OS API in the high level. FB also controlled growth and created a closed circle instead of completely open... Cartmanland.
Smart move for Microsoft to buy a stake, but they should buy the whole lot more to stay alive on the internet for the next gen.
- succubuskiller, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It is not all luck. It is a combination of things. Why MySpace succeeded is because it leeched ideas and benefited from Friendster's poor system performance at the time. Once MySpace got bought out everyone want to be the MySpace++. The strongest thing that FaceBook has is the API they released essentially a Desktop OS API in the high level. FB also controlled growth and created a closed circle instead of completely open... Cartmanland.
- UtahApocalyse, on 10/10/2007, -11/+28dear god no
- bpapa, on 10/10/2007, -3/+61Hey, remember like a year ago when people on Digg (and everywhere else) were saying how stupid Zuckerburg was for not selling out for $1 billion? Oops.
- satx, on 10/10/2007, -2/+181 billion or 10 billion, that's still way more money than any human could ever reasonably expect to need. Either way dude would be living in the lap of luxury.
- iownsomuch, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7I'm pretty sure that Bill Gates ( worth $60 billion) and Steve Jobs (worth $5 billion) spend the same way. Once you get to that point, money doesn't really mean anything anymore. There's no difference between 1 billion or 10 billion.
- mt066, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3You'd use it as business capital. Starting a business is expensive, most people take out huge loans. With that kind of money to invest, you could pursue any crazy passion that you've got.
- haid, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2This has nothing to do with Facebook being worth 10 billion.
This has everything to do with Microsoft having leverage over a distribution medium for their ad network (in competition with Google).
Buying 5% to lock out the competition is cheap... and it will probably cost nothing when/if Microsoft sells its stake.
- satx, on 10/10/2007, -2/+181 billion or 10 billion, that's still way more money than any human could ever reasonably expect to need. Either way dude would be living in the lap of luxury.
- totorototoro, on 10/10/2007, -2/+17Welcome to the Social...again. :p
- geminitojanus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15Damn it, we might not be able to build a social network, but we'll be damned if we can't buy one!
- wageslaven, on 10/10/2007, -8/+1What on this earth thinks that Microsoft couldnt write a Social Networking App?
For the life of me, I dont understand why they havent built this into Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Spaces. For a firm like MS, doing so would be pretty trivial.
- wageslaven, on 10/10/2007, -8/+1What on this earth thinks that Microsoft couldnt write a Social Networking App?
- Elranzer, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4Does this mean we'll have to log into Facebook with a Zune??
- Ireland, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2You could if the Zune had a web browser.
- geminitojanus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15Damn it, we might not be able to build a social network, but we'll be damned if we can't buy one!
- lougoose, on 10/10/2007, -12/+5Does this mean that the Everything Apple group is gonna go away?
- s0lace, on 10/10/2007, -11/+2How much did the pirate vs ninja application add to the value....
- Kidman13, on 10/15/2007, -6/+33Nothing against Microsoft but they have this tendency to pretty much ***** things up that they acquire and haven't build themselves. Just hoping that the same thing doesn't happen to facebook.
- andnever, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14bungie...
- wageslaven, on 10/10/2007, -11/+2Have you used Live Mail lately? Better than GMail by far, perhaps not as nice looking as Yahoo Mail, but more featureful.
- Kidman13, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7I have to disagree. I believe that Gmail > Live Mail any time of the day.
- Tenoq, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Live Mail is atrocious. POP support? Hello!? :p
- kenadamsmith, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2you must be kidding!
- kelly, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8hotmail
- Elranzer, on 10/10/2007, -7/+2Giant AntiVirus -> Windows Defender (Hit)
Toshiba Gigabeat S -> Zune (Hit)
Bungie (Hit)
Rare (Miss)
Hotmail (Miss)
They seem to have a hit or miss success rate with acquisitions.- Kidman13, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Are you sure the Zune is a hit?
- Tenoq, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4And Windows Defender? It's a dumbed-down, ineffective version of Giant. It's only popular because it's included with Windows :p
- fmorel90, on 10/10/2007, -13/+21The day Facebook is bought out or goes public is the day I delete my profile.
- stonr2, on 10/10/2007, -10/+3uhm. it went public loooooong ago.
- mtekk, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3he's talking about an IPO idiot
- jumanji69, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Don't be fooled, they will still have your info
- Elranzer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3So you must then change your info, before deleting it. That way, all they have is crap data.
- stonr2, on 10/10/2007, -10/+3uhm. it went public loooooong ago.
- jads, on 10/10/2007, -4/+36$10 billion is a lot of money for spam about Pirates v Ninjas.
- Kidman13, on 10/10/2007, -20/+12Nothing against Microsoft, but they have this tendency to ***** things up they acquire and have not build themselves. I hope the same does not happen to facebook.
- andnever, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8was 1 comment not enough?
- Kidman13, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3My bad...There really should be a delete comment button on digg though...
- cdcdark, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Deja Vu...it happens when they change something
- andnever, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8was 1 comment not enough?
- orangekid13, on 10/15/2007, -6/+56*****, don't do it, I like being able to use it in Firefox
- soot, on 10/10/2007, -3/+17Why does all the cool ***** always have to get bought up?
- McLumpy, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Because people with money want a slice of that cool *****.
...Or was your question rhetorical? - cnot3, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Facebook is cool, all the kids use it to post pictures of them underage-drinking.
- McLumpy, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Because people with money want a slice of that cool *****.
- KilGil27, on 10/10/2007, -6/+15it was fun while it lasted
- accountname, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3another one bites the dust. ah the pain of the internet... it giveth us napster, audiogalaxy, youtube, facebook... then it taketh away
- cnot3, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1no it wasn't
- petepete, on 10/10/2007, -4/+13And by the time they've finished rewriting it in ASP.NET social networking will be yesterday's news.
- mfearby, on 10/10/2007, -17/+4How on earth can this thing be worth $10 billion? I saw an invitation for Facebook for the first time last night, signed up with a fake profile (not wanting to give away my own details so easily for something I've heard will hoard your information forever) and was amazed at what a pointless thing Facebook truly is. Is it really just meant to be a list of people you know with postage-stamp sized avatars and not much else? Where's the value in that?
- Mast3rDigg3r, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10you need friends to understand
- Tenoq, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Actually laughed at that one, MasterDigger :)
- kinseyincanada, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2you've never been poked have you?
- Mast3rDigg3r, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10you need friends to understand
- a3r0, on 10/10/2007, -5/+22People are just reading the title and seeing "Microsoft buy ... Facebook ... $10 Billion"
It's only a 5% share- Ireland, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Microsoft can keep their greasy mitts off!
- HerrEisenheim, on 10/10/2007, -9/+19$10 BILLION dollars? Ahahahahahaha. Oh man, this Web 2.0 bubble isn't just going to burst, it's going to violently explode like a claymore mine throwing shrapnel into peoples' faces, maiming them for life. $10,000,000,000 for a site where users generate their own spam and other users consume it like pornographic and beer.
- micro506, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Microsoft isn't exactly your typical VC investor...
- funkytaco, on 10/10/2007, -10/+4Oh god noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo............................ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo........................
- brucemuir, on 10/10/2007, -8/+1Hopefully they don't do to facebook what they've done to MSN/live spaces.. I swear .. whenever I try to view someones MSN space / Live space I always get an error.. And I'm like, "Microsoft... Didn't you start working on msn spaces 4 years ago? Shouldn't it be glitch free by now?"
- iblaine, on 10/10/2007, -3/+8I wonder if this will go down like AOL & Time Warner...
- jdm7, on 10/10/2007, -14/+7The day Microsoft has anything to do with Facebook is the day I delete my profile.
- 4ndr3w, on 10/10/2007, -8/+4Please.. I've feel in love with Facebook. It's the only social network I've ever used... please god, no!
- mdeppi01, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1My 6 year old nephew uses better grammar than you.. come on, man!
- Richandler, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6When Fox bought myspace I stopped going there. If Facebook sells out too then I'll stop going to them.
- arctic, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Yeah who would want them to make a profit for their hard work...
- Phocion55, on 10/10/2007, -3/+32The Facebook Genuine Advantage!
- neiltc13, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3$10Bn for a fad like this? Come on, do people honestly think that in ten or fifteen years time people will still be using these things?
- wageslaven, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Yes. Community and groups will become a middle-ware of sorts, keeping and enabling people to do things together. Never mind all the show-boating and naval gazing from Myspace; Face book is the first to "get it" in that respect.
That could be why MS would be interested. - Zap2, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1yes...80/90 babys are born at great time...they'll grow up with social networking, digital phots that can be easly share, google docs, letting people share work info easly.
- wageslaven, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Yes. Community and groups will become a middle-ware of sorts, keeping and enabling people to do things together. Never mind all the show-boating and naval gazing from Myspace; Face book is the first to "get it" in that respect.
- bholub, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1What the hell is wrong with this article, one person wondered. Did anyone else actually read this article, this person said. This is weird, said someone familiar with the matter.
- thomas, on 10/10/2007, -4/+9Nooo! Microsoft ruined Hotmail and they will do the same thing to Facebook.
- Rileyper, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8wasn't hotmail ruined in teh first place
- cliquee, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I agree... It was the first mail provider because of which it still exists...
- Rileyper, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8wasn't hotmail ruined in teh first place
- skull24, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1$10 Billion for myspace 2.0 great job Microsoft.
- xoineg, on 10/10/2007, -7/+610 Billion? what Pesos?
- intggran, on 08/23/2008, -0/+0lol
http://accretaonala.blogspot.com http://citionchilete.blogspot.com http://bcchlorcdeboi.blogspot.com http://cartouchrx.blogspot.com http://downroadremek.blogspot.com http://dyslexaaeastert.blogspot.com http://iomecraftimpers.blogspot.com http://grabblegreeah.blogspot.com http://lifferentlc.blogspot.com http://dccampdccango.blogspot.com
- intggran, on 08/23/2008, -0/+0lol
- Vulphaestion, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3I've lost interest in Facebook ever since they added the Applications. Atleast it stays the same (I know it won't, however), I'l be fine.
- corbs132, on 10/10/2007, -8/+2*****. Please don't let Microsoft ruin the Myspace killer, if they do, where will we turn?
*looks at Kevin Rose*- accountname, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7kevin holds up a sponsored Zune and says"i admit when they sent me this i was expecting much, but i was *honestly* surpized. its awesome"
- PrettyMuchBryce, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3I really hope this doesn't happen. Google should buy it.
- cliquee, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1google will rule the world one day... I am predicting google map will pinpont anyone anywhere in the world after 10 years..
- jameshighmore, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12"Facebook Live"
I can see it now. Full integration with HOTMAIL! - colonels1020, on 10/10/2007, -3/+9IT'S A TRAP!
- Jah30, on 10/10/2007, -6/+610 Billion for a social networking site, what is the internet becoming?? This is ridiculous. Myspace was hot, now its facebook, in due time it will fade away. People get bored with sites like this. The bottom line is if you want to meet people get out there and socialize, don't turn to your computer to socialize, cuz you are only fooling yourself.
- buddahead9, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I signed up a month ago. I put it off for a couple years b/c I til then I joined every social networking site I came across and wasn't all that impressed. I've liked facebook the most, but am starting to get bored with it. I waste far more time on digg than FB.
- cliquee, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I agree with you.. Everyone is eyeing on the revenues that one can achieve from networking sites...
- NickDG, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3$10 Billion! It's just a few pages of code, and only a freaking website for Christ's sakes!!!
In time it'll be as relevant as Cool Site of the Day . . .- whataboutdave, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3They aren't buying the code. They are buying the community and the related data.
- friendlyman, on 10/10/2007, -4/+6If i were the owners of facebook I'd sell and run. $10 billion should be enough for anyone.
- Elranzer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7$640K should be enough for anyone, really.
- whataboutdave, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1That's exactly what they said when Yahoo! offered 1 billion.
- Zap2, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1well 1B would likely be enough...but 10B, you can live off that easly, or go make more w/ it
- cliquee, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1where would you run.. one day or the other you would get caught.. lol.. you seem to be a positive thinker.. even i would have done the same thing... 10bn $ is just too much...
- ChrisRo, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7I'd like to see Facebook stay independent. I'd rather no one buy them.
- bremstrong, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1What does anyone think is really in it for Microsoft?
- samwisezomg, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Do you people realize that 40 million users -> 10 billion dollars values each and every user at $250?? That would be an average per user, and somehow I just don't see that adding up considering the average yearly revenue per user is currently less than $4, with profit even less than a dollar... said someone familiar with knowing math.
I call shenanegans... someone is making stuff up. - machspeed, on 10/10/2007, -12/+1zuckerberg. gates. ***** jews.
- OJXs, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1"say people familiar with the matter."
how many times was that mentioned in the article... - FredFredrickson, on 10/10/2007, -6/+3It might be kinda cool if Facebook was made to work with MS Live accounts...
- Aleks, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5So long Safari support after they rewrite Facebook that is 'optimized' for IE only.
- michaelz92, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1its funny how it seems like just a few months ago, it was about to be sold for only 995 mil.
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