Could MySpace buy RockYou to mess with Facebook?
Shriveled-up megamogul Rupert Murdoch, the pint-sized force behind News Corp. and MySpace, is presenting the keynote at tomorrow's Web 2.0 conference. What big surprise does he have planned for the audience? As we mentioned last week, it's not going to be the rumored MySpace platform launch — that's still a ways away. In our inbox today landed a wild, juicy rumor which reeks of bullshit but is too hot to keep for ourselves. The email said that Murdoch will announce the acquisition of widget maker RockYou, a top Facebook-application developer, and the rumored price is a shocker — a cool $800 million.
Our tipster weighs in with a few more details...
RockYou will move to the new MySpace offices and continue expansion of SF's operations.
It seems to me like a steal to get home court advantage on Facebook turf for less than a billion, but hey, I'm sure RockYou is happy.
We're sure they'd be happy, too, if this rumor were real. The basic strategy makes sense: Bolster MySpace's still-nascent strategy to court developers, and bring one of Facebook's top allies into the enemy camp. It's the price that makes no sense. Sources close to both companies seemed as shocked by the figure as we were and, other than this tip, we haven't heard many whispers about a completed acquisition. My guess? It's a prank from a drunk tipster trying to get misinformation onto our site.
(Unless, of course, you know something we don't. In that case, please fill us in.)