Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer made an audacious $US15 billion bid for Facebook, according to one of the company's executives.
Speaking at the Le Web conference in Paris, Microsoft's senior director of corporate strategy and acquisitions, Fritz Lanman, admitted the company made an unsuccessful bid for the social networking firm in 2007.
"Yeah, we tried to acquire Facebook,” Lanman replied when asked whether Microsoft had made a reported $US15 billion offer, according to a report on TechCrunch. "Facebook had a lot of similarities to Microsoft back in the day."
The $US15 billion figure was first reported in David Kirkpatrick's book The Facebook Effect. Ballmer was allegedly discussing a potential investment in the firm with founder Mark Zuckerberg, who told the Microsoft boss that the company was attracting investors at a $US15 billion valuation.
"Why don’t we just buy you for $US15 billion?” Ballmer reportedly asked Zuckerberg, who declined the offer because he wanted to keep control of the company.
Microsoft instead bought a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook in 2007, allegedly as part of a plan to take over the social network in stages.
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