Myspace, once the world's hottest internet firm, has been sold to an online ad company for around $35m, a fraction of the $100m its parent company was seeking for the ailing social network and billions less than its value five years ago.
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation bought Myspace in 2005 for $580m. In 2006 Google signed a $900m deal to sell ads on Myspace; by 2007 it had 300m registered users and was being valued at $12bn. But the social network was subsequently crushed by Facebook, which launched a year after Myspace.
News Corp put Myspace up for sale this year, engaging investment bank Allen & Co to find a buyer. News had been looking for $100m but settled for $35m offer from advertising targeting firm Specific Media. The sale is believed to be mainly in stock and News Corp will retain a small holding.
Source: Guardian