Facebook $1b - Bambi Francisco

"This summer, Yahoo offered $1 billion for Facebook, but rescinded the offer after its shares tanked 22%, following the company's disappointing earnings. Viacom made a $750 million offer for Facebook in the spring. As it stands, Facebook is valued at north of $500 million. The fact that Facebook's price tag could jump 10-fold in a year underscores the cutthroat competition for eyeballs, growth and ad dollars, not only by Internet companies, but by established media. It also reflects the growing envy, or admiration, for News Corp's (nws) purchase of MySpace. "