Microsoft Tried Buying Facebook For $24 Billion

Many companies tried buying out Facebook when it was gradually becoming popular and it was evident that it would morph into a behemoth in its own right, which it most certainly is right now. Yahoo tried to purchase the nascent social network back in 2006 for $1 billion but the offer was not accepted. Microsoft made a much more generous offer in 2010 and by then Facebook had already seen tremendous growth, however, co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg shot down the $24 billion offer.

When Yahoo made its $1 billion bid for Facebook, the social network was only two years old and at that time only those who had a .edu email address could get access.

In 2010, Facebook was open to the world and was bringing in tens of thousands of new users every month. The company was also a couple of years away from its IPO which would transform it into another tech giant.

Ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was on CNBC a couple of days ago talking about some of the companies that Microsoft acquired under this watch. While he pointed out that Microsoft was never really interested in buying Twitter, he did say that the company had every intention of buying Facebook.

When asked how much the company was willing to pay for the social network back in 2010, Ballmer said: “I think $24 billion when the company was itsy-bitsy and [Zuckerberg] said no.” Ballmer also said that he respects Zuckerberg’s decision to not accept the offer.

Facebook now has a post-IPO market cap of $378 billion and with the company’s shares hitting an all-time high his stake in the social network is now worth almost $57 billion cementing his place as one of the richest men on the planet.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: General
Tags: Facebook, Microsoft