Report: Facebook Valuation Doomed Twitter Acquisition

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2009 - 9:17am.

New York - Facebook was unsuccessful in its attempt to acquire the Twitter microblogging service last year due to the disputed valuation of Facebook, early Facebook investor Peter Thiel tells BusinessWeek.

Back in 2007, Facebook was valued at $15 billion when Microsoft acquired a minority stake in the company.

According to court documents, Facebook had valued its own common stock at about $3.7 billion at around the same time.

In November, Facebook was reported to be seeking to acquire Twitter for $500 million, mostly in Facebook shares.

"The deal would have to be done with Facebook stock. And then you have to figure out how much the stock is worth," Thiel told BusinessWeek.

At the time, Facebook said its shares were worth between $8 billion and $9 billion, Twitter representatives told BusinessWeek.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/cyeaq (BusinessWeek)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10185022-36.html

http://snipurl.com/cyf0j (DMW previous coverage)