MySpace Heads To The Bargain Bin, Low $20-30M Bids

Ever since Facebook began picking up steam, MySpace steadily shrunk in popularity. Almost 50 percent of the MySpace staff have recently been laid off and now the site is up for sale. News Corp purchased MySpace back in 2005 for a whopping $600 million, but the latest bids for the site are coming in between only $20 to $30 million.

MySpace was one of the most popular social platforms back in the mid 2000's. However, over the years it was impacted by negative news of sex-offenders on the platform giving it a reputation as being a pervert haven. As Facebook leaped ahead, MySpace had to re-focus as a music and entertainment oriented social network, but has continued to lose money.

News Corp. is said to be closing a deal by this week and has so far had at least two bidders—Specific Media and Golden Gate Captial. Both bidders are lesser known with Specific Media being an advertising network and Golden Gate Capital being a private equity firm. Both buyers intend to continue MySpace as a social platform with a focus on music and entertainment. The bids, however, were very low at between $20 to $30 million.

Knowing that News Corp. may be attempting to offload MySpace before their fiscal year end, June 30, may also have given the buyers more bargaining chips. Additionally, there were rumors that News Corp. may just shut down MySpace entirely, although further layoffs and a bargain sale to a small player is more likely.

[via AllThingsDigital]