Microsoft's Facebook deal not a "mistake"
Microsoft's Facebook deal not a "mistake"
(Tue, 6th November 2007)
The chief executive of software giant Microsoft has defended the company's purchase of a stake in social network site Facebook, stating that the deal was not a "mistake".
Steve Ballmer told Reuters that the 1.6 per cent of Facebook which Microsoft bought last month was the correct move for the firm, despite analysts claiming the $240 million (£115 million) price tag was too high.
The deal valued Facebook - which was set up by Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg - at $15 billion, just over three years after it was launched. Mr Ballmer claimed that it was too early to say what the value of Facebook is.
He told the news agency: "The valuation of Facebook is still to be determined. Certainly today, it's very, very popular. So for a company like ours that wants to be a pre-eminent presence in this space, it's very important for us."
The number of people using Facebook grew by 366 per cent between January and July this year, according to comScore.
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