The ongoing FTC investigation against Meta for alleged antitrust practices in the social networking sphere continues. A fascinating revelation today revolves around the unveiling of internal emails from 2013 when Mark Zuckerberg, then CEO of Meta (formerly known as Facebook), proposed acquiring Snapchat.
This revelation, while not a well-kept secret due to previous news reports, sheds new light on the figures mentioned in the emails, indicating a proposed purchase value of $6 billion, significantly higher than the reported $3 billion at the time.
In the emails, Zuckerberg mentioned presenting the offer to Evan Spiegel, the co-founder and CEO of Snapchat, while also cautioning about the possibility of the news leaking to the media, potentially tarnishing Facebook’s image as they attempted the acquisition.
This aspect prompted FTC lawyers to question Zuckerberg’s motives for wanting to acquire Snapchat, to which he explained that Snapchat had not grown as expected, and acquiring the company could potentially spur its growth even further, albeit purely speculative.
Zuckerberg reiterated that despite the unsuccessful acquisition attempt, Snapchat remains a significant competitor in today’s landscape. Currently, Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, is a publicly traded company with an estimated business value of around $13 billion.
Source: Business Insider
TLDR: The FTC investigation into Meta’s antitrust practices includes revealing internal emails from 2013 where Mark Zuckerberg proposed acquiring Snapchat for $6 billion, indicating the platform’s significance despite the unsuccessful acquisition attempt.
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