Summary: Mark Zuckerberg attempted a buyout of Snapchat in 2013. The FTC is now reexamining his attempt in its ongoing antitrust case against Zuckerberg’s company, Meta.
At one point, Meta went on a shopping spree, buying up all sorts of companies, including social media platforms like Instagram. It also bought the messenger platform WhatsApp. It also tried to buyout Snapchat, with the Mark Zuckerberg-owned company offering $6 billion.
It was an unsuccessful attempt, one that Zuckerberg can’t seem to let go.
Failed attempt to buyout Snapchat
Meta and Zuckerberg are currently on trial over alleged antitrust violations. During the trial, he was questioned by an FTC attorney, where he responded by saying he believed he could make Snapchat better. “For what it’s worth, I think if we would have bought them, we would have accelerated their growth, but that’s just speculation.”
Business Insider reached out to Snap to get its opinion on Zuckerberg’s comments. According to Snap spokesperson Monique Bellamy, “Anticompetitive behavior can often slow and thwart growth for smaller companies and startups, especially when dominant companies like Meta use their size and position to stifle competition. Public reports of Meta’s attempt to buy Snap, and then egregiously copy its features, was an attempt to do just that.”
Ever since Meta failed to acquire Snapchat, the company has attempted to create its own Snapchat clones. The company even borrowed popular Snapchat features like Stories. That is probably one of its most successful copies to date. The feature eventually made its way across Meta’s products like Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Messenger.
FTC revisiting Meta’s past acquisitions
Meta’s attempt at buying Snapchat happened more than a decade ago. The FTC is using this attempt as an example of how Zuckerberg’s firm is trying to preserve its dominance in the social media space by buying up its rivals rather than trying to compete meaningfully with them. The FTC antitrust case is also revisiting some of Meta’s past acquisitions, such as WhatsApp and Instagram.
Meta argues that regulators already approved those acquisitions and shouldn’t reopen the case. But the FTC thinks otherwise. If the FTC wins its case, it could force Meta to sell off WhatsApp and Instagram. This will have a devastating effect on Meta’s ad revenue, where Instagram alone accounts for more than half.
