Microsoft to Pay $240 Million for Stake in Facebook

Here's another chapter of the social networking/advertisement war:

Microsoft has won a high-profile technology industry battle with Google and Yahoo to invest in the social networking upstart Facebook.

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The astronomical valuation for Facebook is evidence that Microsoft executives believed they could not afford to lose out on the deal. Google appears to be building a dominant position in the race to serve advertisements online. Fearing it might lose control over the next generation of computer users, Microsoft has been trying to match and in some cases block Google’s plans, even if that effort is costly.

“We are now stepping outside what is typically a business decision,” said Rob Enderle, the founder of the strategy concern Enderle Group. “This was almost personal. I wouldn’t want to be the executive that’s on the losing side at either firm.”

This reminds me of a car I bought some years ago. I put to car dealers fighting with each other. Needless to say, that was the better deal I've made, after a personal decision was made by one of the buyers. And no, it wasn't a $240 million deal...