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Zuckerberg Made Instagram Deal Alone

Posted by samzenpus on from the going-solo dept.

benfrog writes "According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook's Board of Directors was all but out of the picture when Mark Zuckerberg struck the $1 billion deal to purchase Instagram, the yet-profitless photo-sharing service. From the article: 'It was a remarkably speedy three-day path to a deal for Facebook—a young company taking pains to portray itself as blue-chip ahead of its initial public offering of stock in a few weeks that could value it at up to $100 billion. Companies generally prefer to bring in ranks of lawyers and bankers to scrutinize a deal before proceeding, a process that can eat up days or weeks. Mr. Zuckerberg ditched all that. By the time Facebook's board was brought in, the deal was all but done. The board, according to one person familiar with the matter, 'Was told, not consulted.'"

11 of 307 comments (clear)

  1. Was told, not consulted. by HermDog · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pretty much how we all got Timeline.

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    JADBP
    1. Re:Was told, not consulted. by drpimp · · Score: 5, Funny

      Dude this is /. we all know you only have like 4 friends ... not really a good sample size.

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      -- Brought to you by Carl's JR
  2. I'm confused by sir_eccles · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why did it take 3 days for the other guys to say yes to $1bn?

    1. Re:I'm confused by jjohnson · · Score: 5, Funny

      Because the minute someone offers you $1b, you think you're worth 1.1.

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      Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
    2. Re:I'm confused by canajin56 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Seems like they had a $1 billion business model! ;)

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      ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI
    3. Re:I'm confused by larry+bagina · · Score: 3, Funny

      They had a business model: sell out for $1 billion.

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      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  3. He only bought instagram to troll by Cito · · Score: 3, Funny
    Since the Winklevoss twins were interested in purchasing it first. Zuckerberg swooped in and bought it solo with the quickness before the Winklevoss' knew what hit them...

    It's all setup for The Social Network Part 2 :P

  4. Standing in awe by caffemacchiavelli · · Score: 5, Funny

    While I'm still unsure how they got their investors to accept a $500M valuation (Series B, was it?), going into a meeting thinking "Yeah, $2B for a popular photo sharing app platform sounds about right" must take some cojones. I probably couldn't sell Instagram for $200M, I wouldn't even know where to start.
    "So, we have this platform and our users are totally committed to the experience and not just using it because it's hip...and we all know that social media startups tend to stay popular and don't crash after a year or two...and crap, we can totally monetize that thing, like print photos on mugs and stuff...that's like an instant $80M/year right there, minus the cost of the mugs, of course. So, whaddaya say, two billion?"

  5. Re:and this is how... by khendron · · Score: 4, Funny

    No no no! A cloud bubble DOUBLE rainbow!

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    Life is like a web application. Sometime you need cookies just to get by.
  6. Re:paid for user data by hal2814 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, that depends on your definition of "scam." They do have to follow the law. As long as they wrote out the actual details of their scam and put it somewhere on display like in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard' then they're fine. If they don't do that legal legwork, they could get into trouble.

  7. Instagram's Kevin Systrom's Reaction by bhlowe · · Score: 4, Funny
    Kevin Systrom recently sold Instagram to Facebook for a billion dollars and this is how he feels about the sale:

    Here is what he had to say about it. .