Main image of article Layoffs Certain as Myspace Goes for a Mere $35 Million
It's official. Myspace has been acquired for a mere $35 million by Specific Media, an advertising and digital media company. That's less than half of News Corp.'s $100 million expectation. To put it into perspective, $35 million is
  • 6 percent of the $580 million News Corp. paid for Myspace in 2005
  • 0.3 percent of the $12 billion Myspace was valued at in 2007
  • 0.05 percent of the latest Facebook valuation of $70 billion
Meanwhile, Kara Swisher of AllThingsD confirmed earlier reports on job cuts: "The deal includes a halfing of Myspace’s staff of 400, as well as other cost cuts." In an internal memo, CEO Michael Jones said announced he'll leave the company in two months time.
From: Mike Jones Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 11:26 AM To: Myspace All Subject: IMPORTANT COMPANY NEWS Importance: High Myspacers, Today, we are announcing that Myspace will be acquired by Specific Media, one of the world’s leading online media and advertising platforms. Over the next few days you will be hearing from the team at Specific, including their CEO, Tim Vanderhook, regarding their exciting plans for Myspace and how it fits in with the overall vision of their company. In conjunction with the deal, we are conducting a series of restructuring initiatives, including a significant reduction in our workforce.  I will assist Specific with the transition over the next two months before departing my role as Myspace CEO. I wanted to take a minute to thank you all for the incredible experience it has been to lead this company and to work closely with all of you over the past several years. While I regret we won’t be working together at Myspace any longer, I am very proud of the work we have done here and believe we have performed with excellence – even under extremely difficult circumstances. My time here at Myspace represents the most engaging and challenging time of my professional career. I have found our team to be comprised of the best people I have come across in our industry. You can read the press release below.  Once again, thank you for all of your hard work and dedication. Thanks, -M
The press release made no mention on Myspace's new direction:
Los Angeles, Calif. — June 29, 2011 — Specific Media, a digital media company, today announced it has acquired Myspace from News Corporation. As part of the agreement, News Corporation will take a minority equity stake in Specific Media. Additional terms of the agreement are confidential and will not be disclosed. “Myspace is a recognized leader that has pioneered the social media space. The company has transformed the ways in which audiences discover, consume and engage with content online,” said Tim Vanderhook, Specific Media CEO. “There are many synergies between our companies as we are both focused on enhancing digital media experiences by fueling connections with relevance and interest. We look forward to combining our platforms to drive the next generation of digital innovation.”
It's always nice to hear about "exciting plans" and "workforce reductions" in the same memo. Source: AllThingsD, guardian.co.uk