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the audit

The Twitter, Facebook, Groupon, Huffington Post Bubble

February 9, 2011

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Still think there’s not a Web 2.0 bubble going on?

The Wall Street Journal reports tonight that Twitter is now valued at between $8 billion and $10 billion. Twitter is the massively popular communication network that doesn’t have a business model, loses money, and has almost no revenue

Sound familiar?

The Journal reports Twitter had $45 million of revenue last year. A quick bit of math tells us a $10 billion valuation would mean the company, which will be five years old next month, is priced at 222 times sales.

And I thought The Huffington Post was overvalued at ten times sales.

One more bubble point: That $10 billion would also be going on three times what Twitter was valued at its last capital raise—two months ago.

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In December, when it got $200 million in new venture capital, Twitter was valued at $3.7 billion.

But Twitter’s aiming high:

People familiar with the situation said the company believes it can grow into a $100 billion company.

With this market, they might get there by summertime—business model be damned.

Further Reading:

The Groupon Bubble. NYT reports Wall Street pitching a $15 billion to $20 billion debut

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Ryan Chittum is a former Wall Street Journal reporter, and deputy editor of The Audit, CJR’s business section. If you see notable business journalism, give him a heads-up at rc2538@columbia.edu. Follow him on Twitter at @ryanchittum.