Before there was Facebook, there was Myspace. However, times have drastically changed and the Myspace net worth is now a fraction of what it once was.
Mark Zuckerberg, now the king of the digital world, met Myspace co-founder Chris DeWolfe back in 2004. The pair discussed a potential acquisition deal, which would have seen Myspace acquire Facebook for $75 million. DeWolfe walked away.
That surely ranks among the biggest mistakes of all time.
Facebook is now the eighth biggest company in the world, with a value of $442 billion, while Myspace is worth a fraction of what it once was. Likewise, 2 billion users access Facebook each month, while Myspace attracts just 15 million. Those figures are astounding, given just how popular Myspace used to be.
Myspace net worth: The rise and fall
Three online marketers founded Myspace in 2003. Their early vision was of streamlined version of the social gaming website Friendster. Within 10 days, the trio had built and launched the site.
While Facebook joined the social media mix soon after, DeWolfe, Tom Anderson and Jon Hart had the expertise (and a 20 million user mailing list) to get Myspace to the masses.
Myspace was one of the most visited sites on the internet within two years. That soon grabbed the attention of some of the business world’s biggest figures. It was News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch who got in first, agreeing to pay $580 million for the site.
By 2008, Myspace was on the brink of reaching $1 billion in annual revenue. However, rival platform Facebook was beginning to rear its head. Zuckerberg’s website had a cleaner interface and a wider range of apps, which ultimately convinced users to switch sides. As a result, 2009 saw Myspace lose half of its user base.
Incredibly, the Myspace net worth peaked at $12 billion. Yet, the last known value was just $35 million, set when the struggling social media platform was purchased by Specific Media and Justin Timberlake in 2011.
Time Inc. has since purchased the parent company and numerous redesigns and relaunches have occurred, in an attempt to rejuvenate the struggling site. Myspace is still a long way behind Facebook. However, they have had some success in recent years as a music-orientated social media site.
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