TechZone360 recently reported that News Corporation was looking to sell social media networking website MySpace by Thursday. It looks as if this day has come a little early, as it was just announced that ad-targeting company Specific Media, one of the main competitors vying for the company will purchase MySpace.
An article on the Wall Street Journal website is reporting that Specific Media will pay $35 million in stock and cash for Myspace, a much reduced price from the $100 million News Corp. was originally looking to offload the site for. News Corp will keep a stake of less than 5 percent in the site, the article stated.
"There are many synergies between our companies as we are both focused on enhancing digital media experiences by fueling connections with relevance and interest," said Tim Vanderhook, chief executive of Specific Media, in a statement. "We look forward to combining our platforms to drive the next generation of digital innovation."
News Corp. purchased MySpace in 2005 for $580 million at a time when the website was thriving and users were growing by the day. However, News Corp. watched their new acquisition go from being ranked as the biggest social-networking site to almost complete nonexistence, totally trampled by Facebook.
As part of the newly formed agreement, Specific Media will pay MySpace with a much larger amount of equity than cash, according to an unnamed source.
MySpace CEO Mike Jones said in a statement he will be stripped of his title right away, but he will take on a guiding role and continue working with News Corp. and the Specific Media until the end of the summer. "I am not running from the building by any means," Jones commented.
Just yesterday, MySpace started the arduous process of firing over half of their current staff, around 500 individuals.
Jamie Epstein is a TechZone360 Web Editor. Previously she interned at News 12 Long Island as a reporter's assistant. After working as an administrative assistant for a year, she joined TMC as a Web editor for TechZone360. Jamie grew up on the North Shore of Long Island and holds a bachelor's degree in mass communication with a concentration in broadcasting from Five Towns College. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
