Microsoft in talks to invest in Facebook: report
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Microsoft Corp is talking to Facebook about buying a minority stake in the fast-growing online social network that could value the company at $10 billion or more, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Monday.
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Social-networking site Facebook is in  serious talks to sell itself to Yahoo  for an amount  that could approach $1 billion, The Wall Street Journal  reported on Thursday.
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Following a deal last August in which Microsoft agreed to handle all ad sales for popular social networking site Facebook, the Redmond company has signed a similar agreement with social news site Digg. Microsoft is working hard to establish itself in the ad industry, but faces stiff competition from Google.
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Microsoft is rumored to be interested in investing in Facebook, in a deal that would value the social network at $10 billion or more. Just what else could you buy with $10 billion? It's the GDP of Bolivia, for starters.
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Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is in talks to combine MySpace and other Internet properties with Yahoo Inc to fend off Microsoft Corp's $42.1 billion bid, according to several reports.
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The company is considering an investment of between $300 million and $500 million for less than 5 percent of Facebook.
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The firm is poised to buy a 5% share in the popular social networking website, according to reports.
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Why does Microsoft think Facebook is worth $15bn? Here are 15 possible reasons....
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Facebook will sell a $240 million minority stake to Microsoft, which as part of the deal will also expand the advertising services it provides to the social networking phenom, the companies said Wednesday in a statement.The size of the ownership stake Microsoft will take during Facebook&#39;s next round of financing puts Facebook&#39;s valuation at a whopping $15 billion.&#160;Google had reportedly been courting Facebook as well.In addition to the ownership piece, Microsoft will also extend its existing agreement to provide banner ads to Facebook in the U.S. With this deal, Microsoft will become Facebook&#39;s exclusive third-party ad platform as well as provide Facebook ads internationally.Facebook will likely devote the cash influx from its next financing round to bankroll the torrid growth it is expecting in the coming 12 months in usage and headcount.With about 300 employees now, Facebook expects to have about 700 a year from now, its CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg said last week at the&#160;Web 2.0 Summit.Meanwhile, the site is growing its usage at breakneck speed with about 250,000 new users registering every day.Founded in 2004, it currently has about 49 million active users today, up from 12 million in December. More than half of its active members return to the site daily. Some 59 percent of its users are outside the U.S.Earlier Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post reported that Facebook was in the final stages of making a decision on whether to do this deal with Microsoft or Google.For Microsoft, which hasn&#39;t attained as strong a position in online advertising as it had hoped and lags behind Google, landing this deal could be a major win, as long as Facebook proves to be as attractive an advertising vehicle as expected.The Journal reported later on Wednesday that Facebook expects a profit of about $30 million this year, on revenue of $150 million.Google and Yahoo provide ads for Facebook rival MySpace.Still, questions remain about social networking sites&#39; full potential for advertising, since most of their content is largely unregulated and created by millions of individuals, resulting often in material that is vulgar and objectionable.Facebook plans to share more ideas for revving up its advertising business on Nov. 6, at an event in New York to which it has invited what it calls &quot;its closest advertisers.&quot;&quot;As part of [the event], Facebook executives will discuss new approaches for advertising online,&quot; a Facebook spokeswoman said. &quot;We are not sharing any further details.&quot;Facebook, MySpace, and others are also under close scrutiny from law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad because sexual predators use social-networking sites to stalk and victimize people, in particular minors.The Journal first reported Google&#39;s and Microsoft&#39;s pursuit of the Facebook investment a month ago.
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Microsoft said Wednesday it would pay $240 million for a small slice of Facebook in a deal that values the red-hot social networking website at $15 billion.
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NEW YORK - Microsoft Corp. , lagging behind Google Inc. in the online advertising market, is in talks to purchase a stake of as much as 5 percent in social-networking site Facebook Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported.
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Vox populi, 2004 style. Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) on Wednesday said it will offer blogging to the online many-headed.
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Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. recently discussed swapping its MySpace social-networking site in exchange for a large stake in Yahoo, according to published reports.
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Social networking site, Facebook, believed to be in negotiations with Microsoft.
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Setting the stage for a possible bidding battle, Microsoft Corp. is mulling an investment in Facebook Inc. that would value the rapidly growing online hangout at $10 billion or more, according to a report published Monday.
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News Corp.'s MySpace.com is in talks to bring the social-networking site to China with Boston technology trade publisher International Data Group's Chinese venture arm and former China Netcom Group Corp. Chief Executive Edward Tian, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Friday.
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Microsoft Corp is talking to Facebook about an investment in the company that could value the fast-growing social network at $10 billion or more, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Monday.