MySpace Sold for $35 Million

Like Tila Tequila and the other celebrities it created, MySpace seems to be headed to the junk heap of popular culture. News Corp. has sold the struggling early social network to Specific Media, an advertising company, for $35 million. That’s a steep drop from the stunning $580 million News Corp. paid for it in 2005. News Corp. had been shopping MySpace around for some time, but had hoped to get at least $100 million—a far cry from the $1 billion valuation it once boasted. It will halve its staff from 400 to 200, and C-suite sweep is expected. Specific is reportedly interested in harvesting data about MySpace users that it could use for ad targeting, but MySpace also gives the major ad player its own space—fittingly enough—in which to place ads.