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I really don't see Apple buying Facebook. It's just too far away from what Apple does best. Unless they're planning on buying Wal-Mart, they probably will end

I really don't see Apple buying Facebook. It's just too far away from what Apple does best. Unless they're planning on buying Wal-Mart, they probably will end up dividending pretty soon. There's nothing better to do with that much money.

gabrielroth 16y ago
I agree that the Facebook idea is implausible. I think dividends are unlikely too. There's no reason anyone at the company would be worrying about the stock price right now, so the question is whether Steve Jobs thinks he might be able to find a use for $50b at some point in the future. That might be to buy something he has a use for, or it might be just to intimidate any potential partner or competitor. Has it made a difference to Apple's recent history that everyone knows it could buy Adobe? Do the CEOs of AT&T and Verizon have to face the possibility that Apple could buy Sprint and run its own network? I say yes, and I say Jobs likes it that way, and his comments should be interpreted in that light.
- mattmaroon 16y ago
  That's exactly my point. Adobe's market cap is $15b. Sprint $13.6b. $50b (and rapidly growing) is far more than they need for a very large acquisition, or even two, and they've never shown any appetite for large buys. Not to mention that they could probably easily borrow the amount they'd need to buy either of those so cash on hand is irrelevant as a threat. There aren't many companies with a market cap higher than half of what Apple is sitting on, and unless you think they're going to get into department stores or oil, most of those few are disqualified. They're at the same point Microsoft was at in 2003, they have more money than they can plausibly employ. Investors would far rather receive some of it to deploy themselves in other venues, or in more Apple shares. Jobs will cave soon and begin dividending. Or perhaps he has a large stock buyback in mind.
petercooper 16y ago
I really don't see Apple buying Facebook. It's just too far away from what Apple does best. I can't say your opinion isn't rational, but.. Apple is weird. The iPod was far away from what Apple did best too. As was the iPhone. As was the iPad. I admit, they're all at least hardware, but Apple is pretty diverse and I can at least imagine them taking such a leap (see Logic, iTunes, iWork for software examples).
- mattmaroon 16y ago
  The iPod maybe, the other two not at all. Apple saw that iPods were going to be subsumed by phones so they made a phone that was the best iPod ever. They saw the notebook market was going to be cannibalized by the low end so they took that over.
- notahacker 16y ago
  The difference in company mentalities is more of a chasm to bridge than the difference in core competencies - "just good enough" rapidly-iterating, free-for-all vs meticulously-planned, elegant and priced accordingly.
aristus 16y ago
There may be things that Applebook (Fapple?) could do that each company separately cannot. This article is still just linkbait speculation, though. My (personal, not reflecting on my employer, etc) feeling is that Facebook wouldn't take the offer. Zuckerberg doesn't even want to IPO yet because of the limited amount of control he'd give up. Even if Jobs offered every last penny of that $51B, plus stock and a magic pony, I don't think Zuckerberg would take it.

gabrielroth 16y ago

I agree that the Facebook idea is implausible. I think dividends are unlikely too. There's no reason anyone at the company would be worrying about the stock price right now, so the question is whether Steve Jobs thinks he might be able to find a use for $50b at some point in the future. That might be to buy something he has a use for, or it might be just to intimidate any potential partner or competitor. Has it made a difference to Apple's recent history that everyone knows it could buy Adobe? Do the CEOs of AT&T and Verizon have to face the possibility that Apple could buy Sprint and run its own network? I say yes, and I say Jobs likes it that way, and his comments should be interpreted in that light.

mattmaroon 16y ago
That's exactly my point. Adobe's market cap is $15b. Sprint $13.6b. $50b (and rapidly growing) is far more than they need for a very large acquisition, or even two, and they've never shown any appetite for large buys. Not to mention that they could probably easily borrow the amount they'd need to buy either of those so cash on hand is irrelevant as a threat. There aren't many companies with a market cap higher than half of what Apple is sitting on, and unless you think they're going to get into department stores or oil, most of those few are disqualified. They're at the same point Microsoft was at in 2003, they have more money than they can plausibly employ. Investors would far rather receive some of it to deploy themselves in other venues, or in more Apple shares. Jobs will cave soon and begin dividending. Or perhaps he has a large stock buyback in mind.

petercooper 16y ago

I really don't see Apple buying Facebook. It's just too far away from what Apple does best. I can't say your opinion isn't rational, but.. Apple is weird. The iPod was far away from what Apple did best too. As was the iPhone. As was the iPad. I admit, they're all at least hardware, but Apple is pretty diverse and I can at least imagine them taking such a leap (see Logic, iTunes, iWork for software examples).

mattmaroon 16y ago
The iPod maybe, the other two not at all. Apple saw that iPods were going to be subsumed by phones so they made a phone that was the best iPod ever. They saw the notebook market was going to be cannibalized by the low end so they took that over.
notahacker 16y ago
The difference in company mentalities is more of a chasm to bridge than the difference in core competencies - "just good enough" rapidly-iterating, free-for-all vs meticulously-planned, elegant and priced accordingly.

aristus 16y ago

There may be things that Applebook (Fapple?) could do that each company separately cannot. This article is still just linkbait speculation, though. My (personal, not reflecting on my employer, etc) feeling is that Facebook wouldn't take the offer. Zuckerberg doesn't even want to IPO yet because of the limited amount of control he'd give up. Even if Jobs offered every last penny of that $51B, plus stock and a magic pony, I don't think Zuckerberg would take it.