Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg once said Instagram would be the company's only big-time acquisition.
Facebook made headlines yesterday when it announced plans to acquire Oculus VR, purveyors of a virtual-reality gaming headset, for $2 billion in cash and stock. News of the acquisition comes just little over a month after Facebook agreed to acquire WhatsApp for $19 billion.
Clearly, Facebook has no bones about going on wild spending sprees, presumably in an effort to ensure its survival as a relevant mobile and social platform.
Of course, what really got the ball rolling was Facebook’s $1 billion acquisition of Instagram back in April of 2012. Funny, the $1 billion pricetag which seemed astronomical at the time now seems like one helluva bargain.
What’s particularly interesting about Facebook’s newfound willingness to open its bank account is that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg assured the Facebook faithful that the Instagram deal was an anomaly, an exception to the rule.
If you recall, Zuckerberg in the wake of the Instagram acquisition posted a note on Facebook — now since deleted — where he wrote the following.
This is an important milestone for Facebook because it’s the first time we’ve ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don’t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.
Perhaps adding some context to Facebook’s buying spree, the social networking giant in the last two months alone has spent more on acquisitions than Apple has spent during its entire 37-year history.
