Twitter, anyone?
And then there’s the history lesson:
- Netscape: Acquired by AOL for $4.2 billion (arguably $10.8 billion at the close);
- AOL: Acquired by Time Warner for $120 billion (you’d be lucky to sell AOL for $3 billion today).
- ICQ: Acquired by AOL for $407 million.
- Skype: Acquired by eBay for $4.1 billion. Hefty $1.4 billion eBay writedown ensued.
- MySpace: Acquired by News Corp. for $580 million. That worked out because of a $900 million search deal with Google that won’t be renewed.
- YouTube: Acquired by Google for $1.65 billion. A $1 billion Viacom lawsuit ensued.
For those living under a rock: expensive acquisitions of young internet companies that haven't yet figured out stable ways to make money usually didn't bring the buyer any benefit.