Microsoft has won a high-profile technology industry battle with Google and Yahoo to invest in the social networking upstart Facebook.The two companies said on Wednesday that Microsoft would pay $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook. The investment values Facebook, which is three and a half years old and will bring in about $150 million in revenue this year, at US$15 billion.
http://nytimes.com/2007/10/25/technology/25facebook.htmlAlso see:Microsoft Buys Facebook Stake for $240M [AP]
Rapidly rising Internet star Facebook Inc. has sold a 1.6 percent stake to Microsoft Corp. for $240 million, spurning a competing offer from online search leader Google Inc.Culminating weeks of negotiations, the investment announced Wednesday values Palo Alto-based Facebook at $15 billion – a stunning figure for an online hangout started in a Harvard University dorm room less than four years ago.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102401910.htmlFacebook picks Microsoft over Google for minority stake [IDG]
Facebook Inc. will sell a $240 million minority stake to Microsoft Corp., which as part of the deal will also expand the advertising services it provides to the social networking Web site, the companies said today.The size of the ownership stake Microsoft will take during Facebook’s next round of financing puts Facebook’s valuation at $15 billion. Google Inc. had reportedly been courting Facebook as well.
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