Twitter’s Biz Stone: “We Are Not Valued At $10 Billion”

[Sneha Chowdary]

Yesterday, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo [url=http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2011/02/15/twitter-ceo-dismisses-google-10-billion-takeover-as-rumor/]dismissed[/url] the company’s $10 billion acquisition rumors during a speech at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. And today, Twitter co-founder and creative director Biz Stone [url=http://www.npr.org/2011/02/16/133775340/twitters-biz-stone-on-starting-a-revolution?ft=1&f=1001&sc=tw&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter]told NPR[/url] that “We’re not valued at $10 billion dollars.” The Wall Street Journal [url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703716904576134543029279426.html?mod=e2tw]recently reported[/url] that Twitter is in low-level acquisition talks with Facebook and Google for a deal that would put the network at a $8 to $10 billion valuation. Stone tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross, “We’re not valued at $10 billion dollars. That’s just what people are writing in the newspapers, which unfortunately has the negative impact of my friends thinking I must have $10 billion dollars.”
Of course, the $8 billion to $10 billion are just numbers being thrown out there (perhaps by overeager bankers?). Twitter’s valuation wouldn’t change until a deal is actually done.  Just last December, the company was reportedly valued at [url=http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/15/the-smoke-has-cleared-twitter-now-worth-3-7-billion-gets-200-million-and-two-new-board-members/]$3.7 billion[/url] during its most recent funding round.
But when Gross asked him about the acquisition rumors he responded “Twitter is not for sale. We don’t have a shingle out on our front that says ‘Twitter. For Sale.’ We’re not for sale and we haven’t been. We’re very, very interested in building an independent company. “