The creators of facebook.com, the online social networking website for college and high school students, hopes to sell the private company for as much as $2 billion, BusinessWeek Online reported March 28.
Facebook spokesman Chris Hughes, however, refused to discuss the rumor.
"The BusinessWeek story is based on nothing but speculation, and we do not comment on rumors," Hughes, a senior at Harvard, said in an email to The Daily Princetonian. Hughes declined to comment further on the issue.
According to the BusinessWeek article, "senior industry executives familiar with the matter" said Facebook's owners had already turned down a $750 million offer. The article also strongly suggests that corporate media giant Viacom might be "a good fit" for Facebook.
Created two years ago by then-Harvard sophomore Mark Zuckerberg and his friends, Facebook is now one of the most popular websites in the world. Market researcher comScore Media Metrix ranks it as the seventh most frequented site, behind sixth-place Google, second-place MySpace and first-place Yahoo!.
MySpace sold for $580 million last summer to News Corporation, a media company headed by tycoon Rupert Murdoch. ComScore reports show that the sale has not negatively affected MySpace's popularity.
Currently, Facebook's main source of revenue is paid advertisements and private investments. The costs of running the site consist mainly of server space. ComScore says the site had as many as 5.5 billion page views in the month of February, compared to MySpace's 23.5 billion.
Questions of privacy
In the event that Facebook undergoes a change in ownership, all the site's private information would also switch hands, according to Facebook's privacy policy. "Your user information may be transferred to the new owner so the service can continue operations," the website's online statement informs users. "In any such transfer of information, your user information would remain subject to the promises made in any existing Privacy Policy."
Most students, however, seem unconcerned about the privacy implications. "People should realize that when they sign up for services like Facebook that their information could get out in the open," Bruce Halperin '08 said.
"They're entitled to sell it, and we signed over our information willingly," Robert Krone '08 said.
Facebook's privacy policy states that information will be shared with third parties only when "1) reasonably necessary to offer the service, 2) legally required or, 3) permitted by you."
MySpace, dealing with similar issues, is currently working with Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to enhance safety measures.
Entrepreneurship
The possible sale of Facebook means a boon for student business initiatives.
"Colleges, especially Princeton, a school without professional schools, should encourage students to get into entrepreneurship, especially for some of the departments that lend themselves directly to starting your own business, like engineering," Halperin said.
Tom Szaky '06, one of Princeton's most recent entrepreneurs, took an indefinite leave from Princeton three years ago to co-found TerraCycle, Inc., a company that uses wastes from worms as fertilizer.
"I think college entrepreneurship is an amazing way to go because you get to do anything you want," Szaky said. "It's the safest move ... There's a lot of power in being a student. People are less intimidated and are more willing to help."
"If I got an offer for two billion dollars, I'd take it," he said.
Rise of Facebook
In high school, Zuckerberg and Adam D'Angelo, classmates at Phillips Exeter Academy, created Synapse, a plug-in for Winamp media player that automatically creates user playlists based on previous song preferences. After the program was posted online, many large corporations offered to buy it for as much as $2 million.
Zuckerberg and D'Angelo declined those offers at first. By the time they changed their minds after entering college, the offer was no longer available.
There may be some obstacles before Zuckerberg's current product gets sold. A civil lawsuit was filed against Facebook in September 2004 by rival site ConnectU LLC.
ConnectU claims that Zuckerberg had been working for ConnectU informally before launching Facebook, and stole the idea and source code behind the site. If ConnectU is successful in its ongoing lawsuit, it may force Facebook to shut down its operations.
Read More
GSG approves audit, delays budget approval after ‘insufferable’ meeting
Nikki HanThe final Graduate Student Government (GSG) meeting for the semester lasted more than an hour and a half when discussions over the proposed budget for the next year and a proposed Student Life Fee of $100 turned controversial.
The final Graduate Student Government (GSG) meeting for the semester lasted more than an hour and a half when discussions over the proposed budget for the next year and a proposed Student Life Fee of $100 turned controversial.
Effort to restore chapel’s pews slowly progresses
Ben GoldstonHead carpenter Jim Sullivan has been restoring the Chapel pews over the last year. The dry atmosphere of the Chapel has warped the wooden pews over the years.
Head carpenter Jim Sullivan has been restoring the Chapel pews over the last year. The dry atmosphere of the Chapel has warped the wooden pews over the years.
Metals, molecules, and medicine: chemical biology’s influence on health and sustainability
Aanya KaseraChemistry professor Chris Chang’s lab studies the chemical biology of the elements, specifically examining the roles that copper, iron, and zinc play in biology across all kingdoms of life.
Chemistry professor Chris Chang’s lab studies the chemical biology of the elements, specifically examining the roles that copper, iron, and zinc play in biology across all kingdoms of life.