Companies that attempted to buy Facebook

Companies that attempted to buy Facebook within 3 years of its inception:

Friendster
Google (x3)
The Washington Post
Viacom (x3)
Myspace
Newscorp
NBC
AOL
Microsoft
Yahoo! (x2)

Yahoo was the first to offer $1 Billion (50x of sales) in 2006.

Even though Mark stood to make $250 Million, he rejected the idea.

Why?

Because he knew Yahoo didn’t understand the value of what was coming ahead and, therefore, was undervaluing the business.

Mark was 22 years old when he made this decision.

When asked if he was looking for a better offer, he said:

“I would use the money to make another social media network… and I like the one I have.”

Man, I envy that kind of self-belief.