Microsoft May Pump up to $500M Into Facebook

Bidding war with Google could net even more
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 24, 2007 5:09 PM CDT
Microsoft May Pump up to $500M Into Facebook
Facebook.com founder Mark Zuckerberg smiles at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., in this Feb. 5, 2007, file photo. Facebook Inc. has avoided the acquisition frenzy that's gobbled up MySpace.com, YouTube and other startups, and the company is now striving to become a general portal like Yahoo,...   (Associated Press)

Facebook is in talks with Microsoft about a $300-500 million investment that could give the software company as much as a 5% ownership stake in the social networking site. The deal could boost Facebook's value over $10 billion, and help Microsoft challenge rival Google for Internet advertising cachet, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Google, which competes with Microsoft to serve online ads across a wide range of sites, is also pursuing an investment, setting the stage for a bidding war between the two tech giants which could net Facebook even more capital. Marketers see social networking sites claiming an increasing share of consumer time on the Internet, making access to them critical for owners of ad serving platforms. (More Facebook stories.)

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