Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

August 20, 2008 4:18:00 PM CDT

Learn about Newser Points »

« Back to the grid | Next story »

Jamba Founders Buy Stake In Facebook

Posted Jan 16, 08 12:29 AM CST in World,  Technology,  Business 

(Newser) – Brothers Alexander, Marc and Oliver Samwer, founders of ring tone company Jamba, have just joined Microsoft and Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka Shing as major investors in US based social networking company Facebook. Though the Samwers' haven't disclosed the exact size of their investment, they told Der Spiegel  it was "significant," but smaller than Microsoft's $240 million.

The Samwers, who sold Jamba for $273 million in 2004, also recently invested in the German Facebook clone, StudiVZ; that sold last year for nearly $150 million, reports TechCrunch. Recently valued at $15 billion, Facebook continues to enjoy rapid growth, with an average of 200,000 new members joining the ranks of 60 million each day, 60% of whom now live outside the US.

Sources TechCrunch, Der Spiegel

0 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon

Related Newser Stories

  • Browser Solves Some Social Networking Poblems

    Aug 7, 08 3:45 PM CDT
    Browser Solves Some Social Networking Poblems The web browser Flock is designed to ease multitasking for highly active web users, and it  mostly succeeds, writes Walter S. Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal. Billed as “the social Web browser,” Flock gives users a sidebar with feeds for email, and social networking, photo, video, or news sites. The sidebar is always visible next to the page in the main browser window.
    More »

  • Insider Sales Put Facebook's Value at Fraction of $15B

    Aug 6, 08 1:22 PM CDT
    Insider Sales Put Facebook's Value at Fraction of $15B Though the stake bought by Microsoft last fall pegged Facebook’s value at $15 billion, a rush of stock sales by insiders at the still-private company shows they think it’s worth much less, BusinessWeek reports. Even Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of the social-networking giant, reportedly has sold some shares, and trouble could be looming in Silicon Valley. More »

  • 6 Degrees of Separation? New Study Says 6.6

    Aug 2, 08 12:39 PM CDT
    6 Degrees of Separation? New Study Says 6.6 A huge Microsoft study of its Messenger records bolsters the oft-quoted, but never proven, theory of “six degrees of separation"—almost. The study puts the figure at 6.6, but that's still a pretty small world. A Microsoft researcher analyzed 30 billion messages sent among 180 million users worldwide and found that most people could be linked by a string of fewer than 7 acquaintances, the Washington Post reports.
    More »

  • Scrabulous Creators Spite Hasbro With 'Wordscraper'

    Jul 31, 08 2:53 PM CDT
    Scrabulous Creators Spite Hasbro With 'Wordscraper' The creators of Scrabulous are determined: Just 2 days after Hasbro forced Facebook to ditch their wildly popular online Scrabble impersonator, Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla have introduced Wordscraper, Silicon Alley Insider reports. The new game looks less like Scrabble than Scrabulous and offers a few rule changes, but it may yet provoke another takedown order.
    More »

  • GOP Parodies Obama's Facebook Page

    Jul 30, 08 1:00 AM CDT
    GOP Parodies Obama's Facebook Page The GOP is lampooning Barack Obama's popular Facebook page with something it calls Barackbook. The fake Facebook clone features a frowning Obama whose status reads "hoping to settle on an Iraq policy before November," Wired reports. In addition, the imaginary FriendFeed highlights controversial figures associated with the candidate, including former Weather Underground member William Ayers and corrupt landlord Tony Rezko. More »

Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg speaks to press and advertising partners at a Facebook announcement in New York, Monday, November 6, 2007. The online hangout said Tuesday it plans to let companies...   (Associated Press)
Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg speaks to press and advertising partners at a Facebook announcement in New York in this November 6, 2007 file photo. The online hangout is mining friends' buying...   (Associated Press)
Facebook.com's mastermind, Mark Zuckerberg smiles at his office in Palo Alto, Calif., Monday, Feb. 5, 2007. Facebook Inc. has overhauled a new advertising system that sparked privacy complaints by turning...   (Associated Press)
Facebook.com's mastermind Mark Zuckerberg smiles at his office in Palo Alto, Calif. in this Feb. 5, 2007 file photo. Rapidly rising Internet star Facebook Inc. has sold a 1.6 percent stake to Microsoft...   (Associated Press)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Our editors also recommend:

Threads (1 of 4)

Tags

Microsoft  • Facebook  • social networking  • private equity


Loading...

Premium Articles from HighBeam

Find more articles like this

Today's Most Popular


Other Business Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Newser gives you more news in less time. We search for the best and most important stories all over the web, read them for you, and deliver concise and sharp summaries—along with links to the full text. Newser provides a way to stay on top of an ever-expanding horizon of news and opinion—politics, sports, business, trends, technology, personalities, crimes, and controversies. Newser keeps you not just better informed, but, with our signature graphic interface and smart condensed format, more enjoyably informed.

Learn more »