News Corp Acquisition: ‘Purchase of Myspace was a mistake’

The social network was mismanaged “in every possible way,” chief executive Rupert Murdoch said.

LOS ANGELES: News Corp’s purchase of Myspace was a “huge mistake” and the social network was mismanaged “in every possible way” following the acquisition, chief executive Rupert Murdoch said.   Murdoch, addressing shareholders at the media and entertainment company’s annual meeting in Los Angeles, said News Corp’s 2005 purchase of Myspace for $580 million was seen as “fantastic” at the time. “We paid $600 million,” Murdoch said. “We could have sold it for $6 billion a month later.” Myspace, however, was quickly eclipsed by Facebook, which has grown to more than 800 million members as Myspace’s numbers have dwindled. “I made a huge mistake,” Murdoch said of the Myspace acquisition. “We then proceeded to mismanage it in every possible way,” he said, adding that “all of the people concerned with it are no longer with the company.” News Corp sold Myspace in June for $35 million, just six per cent of its purchase price, to Specific Media, a digital ad-targeting platform.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2011.