The Guardian
trending topics
Close Box

Our news

Yes, it’s true: We are joining GigaOM...


Bebo Co-Founder: AOL Sale Would Be ‘Mildly Disappointing’

  • Comments Comments (View)
  • Text Size: A A

imageThat’s an understatment. What do the Bebo founders think of reports AOL (NYSE: TWX) wants to sell Bebo, less than a year after buying it from them for $850 million? Says serial entrepreneur Paul Birch, brother of Michael Birch, still hungover (via TechFluff.tv): “It’s only mildly disappointing. We’re financially disconnected from it it so it’s not going to affect us from that perspective. It’s always nice to think that you’ve sold something and the buyer’s gone on to enjoy value, but we live in a fast-moving world and that doesn’t always happen.” Translation: the sale’s been done and we’ve moved on, so what’s the big deal? (video after the jump).

SEE ALSO: AOL, Time Warner, Bebo Line Up To Deny A Sale Is In The Offing

Bebo, AOL and owner Time Warner have all denied last week’s unattributed report that AOL wants to sell the social net for a big loss. But paidContent:UK understands it did realise, quite soon after the acquisition, what a costly move it had made. Word has it Bebo, following the deal, promised AOL something “really cool” by December. Bebo’s main product launch since the acquisition has been its Social Inbox aggregator, which puts it up there with Facebook and others trying monetise feed-based media during the advertising downturn.

Feb 3, 2009 5:01 AM ET

Posted In: Companies, AOL, Time Warner, bebo, paul birch

(Page 1 of 1)


The Bestsellers

From iTunes and YouTube to Facebook and Kindle, the most popular content on the web, free and paid.

Barnes & Noble (Paid) Barnes & Noble (Paid)
1. The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Series…
2. Longitude
3. Practical Magic
4. The Vow
5. The Double Comfort Safari Club (No.…
See The Other Bestsellers »

Jobs RSS Job Listings

Social Standing

Which media brands are getting a lift from Tweeters and bloggers right now -- and which are getting panned?

"Sentiment" Scores for All the Companies »

Sponsors

Staff