Is this a volume / share play? MySpace already has it’s own photo / video sharing services. They’re expanding these services rapidly too.

Not a bad exit. Seeing the reaction of non-myspace photobucket users will be interesting given the “love it” or “hate it” nature of myspace.

This is surprising.
Smart tactics by myspace. They realised they were getting too much negative publicity by blocking out photobucket. So they appeared to give in and then just bought it out!

I wanted photobucket to be acquired by some large player. And although I am not a big fan of myspace, I think this merger would work out well.

Web 2.0 continues to amaze.

Getting the block removed will be great for MySpace’s PR (and we know that MySpace can use all the help it can get as far as that goes). The only question now is what they plan to do with this property. They already have a pretty robust system of serving videos and photos, hopefully (for the price) they can make some good use of this new investment.

10x yearly revenue is A LOT. However, I can see why myspace wants photobucket, but I still cant see it being worth THAT much.

[...] yes, apparently MySpace is apparently buying [...]

My question would be what kind of message this acquisition will transmit to other widget that are built on Myspace? Does that mean that this wont leave place to other photo services built on myspace? will we see an integration of photobucket within myspace? that might kill some of the widget market.

[...] Confirmed: MySpace To Acquire Photobucket For $250 Million [...]

#6/Dave: 10x revenue is a lot? No it isn’t.

[...] Apparently, this is confirmed. The price is about $250 million. Posted in MEDIA, HOT SITES, DEALS, [...]

[...] coverage: TechCrunch, TechMeMe] Sphere [...]

Perhaps Myspace put that block on to see how much the revenue loss would be for that short period of time. Could it have been a part of the due diligence Myspace conducted?

I think this is a great match and could be very beneficial for MySpace in the long run… PhotoBucket is a well known brand in itself, so 10x is reasonable if they can actually do something with it.

[...] Photobucket (apparently first written about at Valleywag, to whom congrats are thus due. Now TechCrunch says it’s confirmed) there’s a couple take aways that come to my mind. (This wouldn’t be the first time Valleywag [...]

Huge news, congrats to Alex, Luke, Michael, Todd, Nick, Joslin, and everybody else on the Photobucket team.

They are an amazing bunch, brilliant, and deserve their success.

[...] Informacja się potwierdziła. MySpace zapłacił za Photobucket [...]

phobucket typo

10x forecasted revenue not actual revenue in 2006. That’s more like 38x

[...] d’information sur techcrunch , ouriel parle aussi de l’info, ou sur valleywag qui a aussi laché le morceau très [...]

[...] techcrunch potwierdza zakupu photobucket przez Myspace za kwotę 250 milionów dolarów. Wykop Gwar.pl [...]

[...] have being flying around these last few days, but today it’s official, as TechCrunch confirms. This explains why a few weeks ago, myspace closed their gates to photobucket, just ot [...]

[...] Arrington at TechCrunch says he has been able to confirm the deal is happening with “senior people” (the Valleywag rumour was apparently the work of an [...]

Thanks valleywag for breaking this!

Ha – valued at over 10x *planned revenues*?!

How much revenue do you *plan* on for next year Mike?

Ahh, now we know why they blocked photobucket…..it was a negotiating tactic, “Ok, you think you are worth $250M+? Let’s see what happens when we cut you out of our site.” “Oops, you are right, we’ll pay $275M”

Nice work photobucket, too bad I will be canceling my account now.

Picasa web, FTW!

good point bdb

This is weird sounds way too high for PhotoBucket…

[...] TechCrunch [...]

Crap aquisition. The bubble continues to grow. What a waste of money. This shows laziness and stupidity on the part of Myspace. Either you buy these guys out early and get them cheap or you cut them off and build it yourself. Photobucket without myspace is nothing. You’d think they would have at least negotiated better.

Congrats to the Photobucket team and investors. Another empreror’s new clothes scenario here.

It’s nice to see that they’ve stuck it out over the years and are exiting with something like this. I like Photobucket. I go there a few times a week. I’m never on myspace.

[...] Techcrunch da por confirmada la noticia. Los rumores surgieron de un empleado de Photobucket, pero ellos lo [...]

[...] « Previous post [...]

Photo Bucket acquisition confirmed…

Last time I spoke about this I said:
I would say the decision was made because of the latter as Photobucket is currently on the take for an estimated $300 – $400 million, this play may be an attempt by Fox to dilute Photobucket’s worth by distributin…

@19
50m is no small drop, I agree it is a crazy price but this add’s alot of users to Fox properties, remember Murdoch owns a newspaper monopoly outside the web, you will see more of these moves to come.

My follow-up to the original post I did on this saying Murdoch was acquiring but diluting the deal can be found here http://danielgardner.wordpress.com/2007/05/07/photo-bucket-acquisition-confirmed/

[...] Michael/Techcrunch korrigiert die Summe wie folgt: …but we’ve confirmed it with more senior people: MySpace is acquiring Photobucket for $250 [...]

[...] least there are confirmed rumors. Funny given that they completely blocked photobucket just a month ago or [...]

[...] TechCrunch lists the purchase price at closer to $250M, and confirms the deal with “more senior [...]

I feel sorry for all the Photobucket users, you just handed ownership rights of all your pictures to Ruppert Murdock:

“…By displaying or publishing (“posting”) any Content on or through the MySpace Services, you hereby grant to MySpace.com a limited license to use, modify, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, and distribute such Content solely on and through the MySpace Services.”

Fox gets to use you pictures for any reason they want, if it makes them money, you don’t get a dime.

Use Flickr!

Glad I use Flickr. Great to see the Photobucket guys get rewarded. The backlash Myspace got was warranted in my eyes. Users spend all this time uploading photos and videos and then Myspace blocks them. This will be good for the photobucket/Myspace crowd but I dont like the idea of Fox owning everything. For some reason it doesn’t seem as bad when its Yahoo. I love Flickr btw so I am a little biased.

@Todd

“…By displaying or publishing (”posting”) any Content on or through the MySpace Services, you hereby grant to MySpace.com a limited license to use, modify, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, and distribute such Content solely on and through the MySpace Services.”

The way I read that it wouldn’t matter if you post on Myspace via Flickr…

I guess this means widgets AND youtube on myspace are likely to be ending…

Congrats for Photobucket to get $$ while they could.

Let’s see what this means to other photo-sharing and slideshow companies now that MySpace has nearly cornered the market. Also, this poses some threat to all those companies dependent on Photobucket playing neutral in the social networking arena. MySpace/Fox Interactive now pulls the strings behind many deep-linked images…

$250m – some bloggers call that a steal. I call that too much cash for a low-margin, very expensive business that can be replicated easily.

or perhaps I’m just jealous…

I think Photobucket got a better deal. $250 million is an awesome price for the site. Myspace is dump enough to buy it! I still dont understand why myspace couldnt just have a build in image hosting service.

Photobucket Sold To MySpace for $250M now plus $50M later…

Techcrunch is reporting that the photo sharing company Photobucket is to be acquired by News Corp company MySpace. At the end of March, I wrote a blog on how to value photo widget / photo sharing companies. I predicted then that anyone who wanted to …

[...] Sembra confermato: il pianeta MySpace ha acquistato il satellite Photobucket per 250 milioni di $, tutti in cash. Photobucket, il sito più popolare di photo sharing con i suoi 17 milioni di utenti al mese (secondo ComScore, che lo pone prima di Flickr), era da Marzo che stava cercando un acquirente assieme a Lehman Brothers (che avevano appositamente ingaggiato). L’obiettivo era quello di vendere la società per 300 milioni di $ ma 3 fattori hanno inciso per un ribasso: – la forte dipendenza da MySpace la popolarità del servizio di photo sharing deriva soprattutto dall’uso degli utenti di MySpace dei widget di Photobucket che permettono di visualizzare foto e video che gli utenti uploadano sul sito. MySpace ne ha mostrato la vulnerabilità lo scorso mese impedendo la riproduzione dei video di Photobucket sul proprio social network. [...]

this feels a lot like PayPal / eBay… once the acquisition occurred, hell of a lot of beneficial integration happened rather quickly, and resulted in pretty immediate ROI (like within first 2 quarters, deal had already shown massive value). now PayPal is driving a full 25% (or more?) of overall eBay revenue, and even greater percentage of growth.

guessing that PhotoBucket probably has a lot of good ideas for how to improve their integration into MySpace, and now that MySpace won’t be giving them the “talk to the hand” jive, they can probably do a lot of good stuff quickly.

acquisitions of ecosystem symbiotes tend to do well, since both parties (or at least one) already understand how to work together. i would guess this one will follow that pattern.

- dave mcclure
http://500hats.typepad.com/

[...] TechCrunch: Photobucket has been looking for a buyer since March, when they hired Lehman Brothers to help sell [...]

Another mammal chained to a dinosaur. RIP Photobucket.

Maybe it is a slow day for me today, but I am not getting the rationale behind this acquisition. Photobucket was very much dependent on MySpace, but not the other way around (which MySpace clearly demonstrated a week ago). Also, Photobucket was providing an awesome free storage service for MySpace. Now MySpace will have to do it in-house and paid $250M for the privilege.

–
We Will Create Your Very Own Domain Name – http://PowerNamer.com

MySpace Buys Photobucket…

When Photobucket started looking for a buyer, someone close to MySpace owner Rupert Murdoch asked the following question: Who would you prefer own them? Us or them?
……

I wish I could create such a money.

Who knows? Maybe one day.

May the force be with you!

[...] Source: TechCrunch [...]

Not bad for a fancy upload script.

[...] two sources with knowledge of the deal. This comes right after the news of MySpace’s pending acquisition of Photobucket last week for $250-$300 million. This will be a much smaller deal, in the $10-$20 million range, [...]

[...] knowledge of the deal. This comes right after the news of MySpace’s pending acquisition of Photobucket last week for $250-$300 million. This will be a much smaller deal, in the $10-$20 million range, [...]

[...] Photobucket and Flektor acquisitions were confirmed by Fox Interactive today in a press release. No details on [...]

[...] Photobucket support in MySpace has certainly not been quick in coming (MySpace acquired Photobucket in May for $300 million) but it is a step in the right direction. Photobucket has continued to grow since being acquired by [...]

[...] TechCrunch confirms that “MySpace is acquiring Photobucket for $250 million in cash,” with a rumored earn-out of “up to an additional $50 million. [...]

[...] has the means to throw a sweet bash (open bar, food, the works) considering that they were bought by FOX for $250 million about a year [...]

[...] a no-brainer in terms of the feature set; Photobucket was acquired by FIM/ MySpace for $250 million in May 2007, and other providers including Rapidshare are known to be making good money. The question for [...]

[...] TechCrunch confirms that “MySpace is acquiring Photobucket for $250 million in cash,” with a rumored earn-out of “up to an additional $50 million. [...]

my photos

[...] Photobucket, this news was first came courtesy of Valleywag, later confirmed by the A-list blogger, Techcrunch and several tech news provider such as Webpronews. It seems that both companies realized by joining [...]

hiiiii

loe it

no offense meant to the one who posted the photobucket ad on friendster. i just want to inform you that your ad has a bad effect on my account. i lost my background image and its the tiled photobucket image thats left and is apparently distorting the entire page. can you please do something to fix this problem.

hi

[...] TechCrunch confirms that “MySpace is acquiring Photobucket for $250 million in cash,” with a rumored earn-out of “up to an additional $50 million. [...]

thanks

thank”-

there’s one face I want to see,
so beautiful, so true,
one smile that makes a

[...] and videos for other websites including MySpace, eBay, and other large sites. Press Release | TechCrunch | GigaOm | Mashable | [...]

hello everybody, A ka naj shqiptar ktu ajo :D ok ju pershendes gjithve

[...] Alex Welch and Darren Crystal, are leaving News Corp./Fox, we’ve confirmed. The two sold Photobucket to Fox Interactive in May 2007 for around $300 million. Welch and Crystal will leave the company at [...]

[...] Alex Welch and Darren Crystal, are leaving News Corp./Fox, we’ve confirmed. The two sold Photobucket to Fox Interactive in May 2007 for around $300 million. Welch and Crystal will leave the company at [...]

[...] Alex Welch and Darren Crystal, are leaving News Corp./Fox, we’ve confirmed. The two sold Photobucket to Fox Interactive in May 2007 for around $300 million. Welch and Crystal will leave the company at [...]

[...] Alex Welch and Darren Crystal, are leaving News Corp./Fox, we’ve confirmed. The two sold Photobucket to Fox Interactive in May 2007 for around $300 million. Welch and Crystal will leave the company at [...]

[...] Alex Welch and Darren Crystal, are leaving News Corp./Fox, we’ve confirmed. The two sold Photobucket to Fox Interactive in May 2007 for around $300 million. Welch and Crystal will leave the company at [...]

[...] Alex Welch and Darren Crystal, are leaving News Corp./Fox, we’ve confirmed. The two sold Photobucket to Fox Interactive in May 2007 for around $300 million. Welch and Crystal will leave the company at [...]

[...] Alex Welch and Darren Crystal, are leaving News Corp./Fox, we’ve confirmed. The two sold Photobucket to Fox Interactive in May 2007 for around $300 million. Welch and Crystal will leave the company at [...]

[...] Alex Welch and Darren Crystal, are leaving News Corp./Fox, we’ve confirmed. The two sold Photobucket to Fox Interactive in May 2007 for around $300 million. Welch and Crystal will leave the company at [...]

[...] Alex Welch and Darren Crystal, are leaving News Corp./Fox, we’ve confirmed. The two sold Photobucket to Fox Interactive in May 2007 for around $300 million. Welch and Crystal will leave the company at [...]

[...] Via TechCrunch: Confirmed: MySpace To Acquire Photobucket For $250 Million [...]

[...] in 1995. They were (or rather their founders were) early investors in Photobucket, which was acquired by News Corp./MySpace in 2007 for around $250 [...]

[...] in 1995. They were (or rather their founders were) early investors in Photobucket, which was acquired by News Corp./MySpace in 2007 for around $250 [...]

[...] in 1995. They were (or rather their founders were) early investors in Photobucket, which was acquired by News Corp./MySpace in 2007 for around $250 [...]

[...] in 1995. They were (or rather their founders were) early investors in Photobucket, which was acquired by News Corp./MySpace in 2007 for around $250 [...]

[...] in 1995. They were (or rather their founders were) early investors in Photobucket, which was acquired by News Corp./MySpace in 2007 for around $250 [...]

[...] in 1995. They were (or rather their founders were) early investors in Photobucket, which was acquired by News Corp./MySpace in 2007 for around $250 [...]

[...] Corp., via MySpace, acquired photo/video sharing site Photobucket back in 2007 for $250 million, plus a $50 million earnout. [...]

[...] MySpace Close To Spinning Off Photobucket By admin News Corp., via MySpace, acquired photo/video sharing site Photobucket back in 2007 for $250 million, plus a $50 million earnout. [...]

[...] Corp., via MySpace, acquired photo/video sharing site Photobucket back in 2007 for $250 million, plus a $50 million earnout. [...]

[...] MySpace acquired Photobucket back in 2007 for $250 million, plus a $50 million earnout. This new deal marks that valuation down by almost 83%. [...]

[...] and SVP of Engineering at Photobucket and was there from the start and for two years following the $300MM acquisition from FIM/MySpace. Arone, a cofounder of Flock, recently sold his startup DanceJam to SportsNet. [...]

[...] and SVP of Engineering at Photobucket and was there from the start and for two years following the $300 million acquisition from FIM/MySpace. Arone, a cofounder of Flock, recently sold his startup DanceJam to SportsNet. [...]

[...] and SVP of Engineering at Photobucket and was there from the start and for two years following the $300 million acquisition from FIM/MySpace. Arone, a cofounder of Flock, recently sold his startup DanceJam to SportsNet. [...]

2.5 yrs later – to sell it for $60M. ROI -80%?

hola regalada roba marrido es tu pida

i love infiniti card

[...] done the investment for that reason.  That said, Photobucket was a “crack filler” that exited for $250 million to MySpace.  YouTube was a “crack filler” that could have been created by then dominant [...]