Andre Yoskowitz
1 Jul 2013 15:37
Five years ago, Michael and Xochi Birch sold their popular social network Bebo to AOL for a handsome sum of $850 million.
The Birches pocketed over $300 million from the sale and quickly after selling the company fell apart on a scale similar to MySpace, as Facebook became the dominant player in the space.
In 2010, private equity firm Criterion Capital purchased the site for $10 million from AOL (who wrote off the massive loss) in an effort to turn it around but they failed as well, declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year.
Michael announced on his Twitter today that they have purchased the company back for just $1 million, and try to re-invent it if they can. Nicely done, Birch family.
We just bought Bebo back for $1m. Can we actually re-invent it? Who knows, but it will be fun trying...
-- Michael Birch (@mickbirch) July 1, 2013