Social news website Digg has been sold for just $500,000 after being valued at up to $175 million.
Digg, which was once the “internet darling” at the forefront of social news sharing and valued at up to a staggering $175 million, was sold to New York technology development company Betaworks for $500,000 in cash plus equity.
The sale of the seven-year-old site marks a massive loss for its former investors, who invested a total of $45 million during its lifetime as an independent, according to The Guardian.
Digg reportedly still attracts over 16 million unique visitors a month, but has lost its edge over competing social news sites such as Slashdot and Reddit.
Betaworks said in a statement: “Digg is one of the great internet brands, and it has meant a great deal to millions of users over the years. It was a pioneer in community-driven news.
“We are turning Digg back into a startup. Low budget, small team, fast cycles. How? We have spent the last 18 months building News.me as a mobile-first social news experience. The News.me team will take Digg back to its essence: the best place to find, read and share the stories the internet is talking about. Right now.”
In August 2006, Digg’s founder, Kevin Rose, appeared on the cover of BusinessWeek, with his site being described as the 24th-most popular website in the US, “nipping at the The New York Times‘ (No. 19) and easily beating Fox News (No. 62)”, according to Alexa.com.
In its 2008 funding round, Digg was valued at $175 million.
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