Facebook over the years has received no shortage of buyout offers, with Yahoo’s bid to purchase the social network for $1 billion back in 2006 perhaps being the most famous of all. While $1 billion seems like a steal today, remember that Facebook back in 2006 was only two years old and it was no surefire guarantee that it would go onto become the tech giant it is today. Remember, MySpace was still alive and kicking back in 2006 and Facebook at the time was still closed off to anyone without a .edu email address.
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Yahoo, though, wasn’t the only tech giant to express an interest in Facebook over the years. Microsoft in 2010 made a play for the company back in 2010. Of course, Facebook in 2010 was a much different animal than it was in 2006, and Microsoft’s offer clearly reflects that. Though Facebook’s IPO was still two years away, Facebook by 2010 was growing like mad and had firmly established itself as the only social networking site worth caring about.
Appearing on CNBC earlier today, former Microsoft CEO and current LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer looked back at some of Microsoft’s past acquisitions. While explaining that Microsoft was never interested in acquiring Twitter, Ballmer did confirm that Redmond was dead serious about snatching up Microsoft.
When asked how much Microsoft was willing to pay to acquire Facebook, Ballmer said $24 billion.
“I think $24 billion when the company was itsy-bitsy and [Zuckerberg] said no,” Ballmer said. “And I respect that.”
The entire interview with Ballmer can be viewed below.
