PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Microsoft Corp. is talking with Facebook Inc. about buying 5 percent of the U.S. social-networking Web site for up to $500 million, a report said Monday.
The stake could value Facebook, of Palto Alto, Calif., at $10 billion or more, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The talks set up another likely face-off with Google Inc., which has also expressed strong interest in a possible Facebook investment, the Journal said.
People familiar with the matter told the newspaper the discussions were still preliminary and Facebook could end up not taking an investment from either Microsoft or Google.
Representatives of Facebook, Microsoft and Google declined to comment.
Facebook -- used by more than 40 million people to set up personal Web pages, communicate and share photos and videos -- expects to have a profit of $30 million on revenue of $150 million this year, the Journal said.
Based on that, a $10 billion company valuation is sky-high, the newspaper said.
But a Facebook investment could give Microsoft or Google opportunities to tie their services in with Facebook at a time when social networking is changing how consumers use Web searches and e-mail, the Journal said.
