Facebook’s net worth

Yesterday afternoon (PST), Facebook announced an advertising relationship with Microsoft in which Bill Gates’ company purchased an equity stake for $240 million. The “people-friendly” company now owns a 1.6 percent stake in the social network Mark Zuckerberg and friends just threw together.

Let’s do the math.

If 1.6 percent of Facebook is worth $240 million, then one percent equals $150 million. Therefore, the company’s total worth is a whopping $15 billion. This is considerably more than the $1 billion offered by Yahoo in 2006. Of course, Facebook only had 9 million users to MySpace’s “100 million plus” over a year ago. Even Zuckerberg undersold Facebook back then, asking for a paltry $2 billion.

Some analysts are predicting this partnership will grow. “Microsoft will continue to have influence beyond just being an ad platform,” said Gartner analyst Andrew Frank to CNET News.com.

It seems like Zuckerberg really is in it for the long term.

~ by Jason on October 25, 2007.