Murdoch rules out bid for Twitter

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 9 Jul 2009 at 07:57

News Corp is not interested in buying popular microblogging site Twitter and will not sell its struggling social network MySpace, according to chief executive Rupert Murdoch.

Murdoch, who was speaking at the Allen & Co investment bank's Sun Valley media and technology conference, said Twitter would be a tough investment to justify because it hasn't yet come up with a sustainable way to make money.

"Be careful of investing here," he said of Twitter.

Asked if he was considering buying Twitter, Murdoch said, "No." Asked about selling MySpace, he said, "hell no."

News Corp bought MySpace in 2005 for $580 million when the social-networking service was nearing the height of its popularity, particularly among younger internet users.

Since then, it has ceded ground to rival Facebook as well as Twitter. News Corp recently ousted MySpace co-founder and CEO Chris DeWolfe and installed its own management team.

In a bid to cut costs, MySpace has also laid off more than 400 workers, or 30% of its staff, in the United States. It also has laid off more abroad.

Murdoch expressed confidence in MySpace and criticised Facebook. "Facebook is like a directory," he said. "How it makes money is another matter."

Twitter co-founder Evan Williams is widely considered one of the darlings of this year's conference. Sun Valley often features hot internet start-ups that older media conglomerates would like to buy to enhance their own businesses.