Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Bebo

Bebo Founders and Shareholders Suing Criterion Capital

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:39:32 +0000

Bebo co-founders Michael and Xochi Birch (MXB Holdings) along with SV Angel, Michael Jackson (TV executive), and Richard Hecker have filed a lawsuit against Criterion Capital Partners, who bought Bebo from AOL in June 2010. The group of investors were persuaded to put money into Bebo after Criterion acquired the social network, but the investors are alleging that Criteron was mismanaging the website and withheld information from them.

Their filing against Bebo alleges:

- Criterion “exploited” Bebo and was “fraudulent” by “using its operating capital to pay the salaries of Criterion’s staff” including $14,000 per month to Bebo CEO Adam Levin.
- Bebo operated for 20 months and “failed to hold a single board meeting or shareholder meeting.”
- Bebo had also defaulted their San Francisco lease and moved to Criterion’s L.A. headquarters without board approval.

The investors are suing the new Bebo owners for $5 million.

Bebo Founder Michael Birch Invests In His Own Social Network That He Sold Off

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 22:46:30 +0000

Michael Birch, the co-founder of Bebo, is investing money into the same social network that he sold to AOL for $850 million. The amount he is investing is undisclosed. Birch is also becoming an advisor in the company. AOL had written off Bebo and sold it to Criterion Capital last summer for a much smaller amount (pegged at around $2.5-$5 million). “There is a huge opportunity to re-invent Bebo, to approach social from a different perspective and create a viable alternative to the now established market leaders,” said Birch. [AllThingsD]

AOL Finds A Buyer For Bebo For A Lot Less Than They Paid For

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:39:32 +0000

AOL is selling social network Bebo for a small price. AOL bought Bebo for $850 million in 2008 and the numbers being thrown around for the sale is between $5-$10 million. The buyer is expected to be Criterion Capital Partners. Selling the social network at a low price will allow AOL to write off the full purchase price for tax reasons. [WSJ]

Why Does AOL Want To Sell Bebo?

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:08:49 +0000

AOL, Inc. (NYSE:AOL) EVP Jon Brod sent over a memo to employees regarding the reason why the company is interested in shutting down Bebo. The core reason is that Bebo is a business that has been declining and it would require too much of an investment in an effort to compete. Below if the full memo [BusinessInsider]:

In an annual filing for Bebo we will make tomorrow, AOL will indicate that it is currently evaluating strategic alternatives, which could include a sale or shut down of Bebo in 2010.
Obviously this is significant news – particularly for the Bebo team, which has done a great job remaining committed to Bebo’s users and overall business. However, AOL’s strategy has evolved driven by the fact that we are in a turnaround and that we need to get the company as focused as possible.
The strategy we set in May 2009 leverages our core strengths and scale in quality content, premium advertising and consumer applications, positioning us for the next phase of growth of the Internet. As we evaluate our portfolio of brands against our strategy, it is clear that social networking is a space with heavy competition, and where scale defines success. Bebo, unfortunately, is a business that has been declining and, as a result, would require significant investment in order to compete in the competitive social networking space. AOL is not in a position at this time to further fund and support Bebo in pursuing a turnaround in social networking.

AOL is committed to working quickly to determine if there are any interested parties for Bebo and the company’s current expectation is to complete our strategic evaluation by the end of May 2010.

Former Bebo President Joanna Shields Joining Facebook

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 03:57:08 +0000

Bebo President Joanna Shields left AOL last May before the People Networks division was separated. Now Shields is joining Facebook in a sales and business development VP role in the EMEA region. Shields will continue to work at Shine View as a non-executive chairperson too. Shields will be reporting to Facebook global sales VP Mike Murphy. [paidContent]

Stephane Panier Becomes Head Of Bebo Global Ops

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:27:19 +0000

AOL social network subsidiary Bebo.com has named a new head of global operations, Stephane Panier. Panier will be responsible for scaling the social network’s media operations and advancing the global reach of the service. Currently Bebo has 24 million users around the world. Panier was previously the VP and COO of Bebo. Panier will be reporting to Jon Brod, the EVP of AOL Ventures.

Before joined Bebo in January 2009, Panier worked at Google for 6 years in finance and operations positions. “Stephane is a proven strategist and operator with executive experience from some of the world’s leading brands and businesses,” stated Brod. “He is the ideal leader to build on Bebo’s existing successes, to chart a course for its future, and to execute against that vision.”

Joanna Shields Steps Down From AOL

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 30 May 2009 15:50:28 +0000

Joanna Shields was an EVP and the President of People Networks at AOL. She came to the company through AOL’s acquisition of Bebo. Shields plans to move back to London and pursue other entrepreneurial interests. Shields was President of Bebo at the time of the acquisition.

This announcement comes at a time where AOL is preparing to spin off from Time Warner as an independent, public company. When Bebo was acquired for $850 million, they were a much smaller social network than MySpace and Facebook. MySpace was acquired for $580 million back in July 2005 and Facebook is planning for an IPO several years down the road.

Below is the memo that Joanna left to her team at AOL:

Dear Team,

I wanted to let you know that after much deliberation and with a heavy heart I have decided to move on from AOL. I am returning home to London to reunite with my family and pursue my entrepreneurial interests.

It has been a remarkable year and I feel incredibly lucky to have spent this time with you. I have been blessed to be part of many success stories in the past from RealNetworks and Google through to Bebo and my time with you at AOL will go down as one of my proudest.

People Networks was born a year ago to solve some of the toughest problems facing online consumers today. Despite (and perhaps because of) all the innovation we’ve seen in the last few years there are too many online services to monitor, too many profiles to manage and too many “social graphs” to maintain. The web is an amazing platform for content, community and communications, but these three rarely happen in one place, resulting in online conversations that are fragmented and disconnected. Our vision was to connect people with everyone and everything they care about and through a combination of great talent, hard work and brilliant assets we managed to create some amazing experiences to do just that.

We started with our industry-leading products AIM and ICQ and are now just about ready to re-invent instant messaging as the world knows it to become the default product for both private and public conversations and social and status updates. We leveraged the incredible passion and talent at Bebo, launching numerous innovations and expanding into 7 new countries while maintaining our leadership in user engagement and innovative monetization. And finally, we assembled a small, yet powerful group of entrepreneurs, to build a platform for socializing the web in record time, receiving rave reviews from publishers and partners working with the Socialthing team. I can’t wait for the world to get a glimpse of our new client this summer combined with the evolution of Socialthing as it finally creates a way for conversations and social interactions to happen anywhere on the web.

You should all feel proud of your role in our success.

I wanted to say thank you for everything I’ve learned from you this past year. I loved the fact that we challenged each other every day, from our offsites and product summits to our Thinktanks and day-to-day meetings. In the end we came up with phenomenal products that will make a lasting impact–and we are just on the verge of revealing these plans. I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to think with all of you, to break down the barriers of the old ways, to innovate again and to re-invigorate this company. I believe in you and I am so very proud of you all. Don’t let the constant swirl of changes around you take you off course. Feel confident about the decisions we have made and the path we are on. Stay focused on delivering the products you believe in and I know you will win.

I leave you in capable hands with Tim and I know he will continue to support you. I remain, as always your friend.

Joanna

[via AllThingsD]

Virgin Media Joins The Bebo Open Mobile Initiative

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:00:32 +0000

AOL sent out a press release today stating that Virgin Media has joined the Open Mobile initiative set up by Bebo, the social network that was acquired for $850 million in March 2008. The Open Mobile initiative is a way for mobile operators, developers, and manufacturing companies to build mobile versions of the Bebo social networks with their brand on it.

As part of the agreement, Virgin will be creating the Bebo Open Mobile Internet website with Virgin’s brand on it and they will also be putting bookmarks for Bebo on the pre-releases of their devices. Virgin customers will be able to easily access Bebo’s mobile services right out of the box.

“Virgin Media’s decision to embed Bebo in their customer experience plays to both of our strengths and joins two great brands. In partnership with Virgin Media, we will be able to deliver great mobile content to more users in the UK,” stated Sean Kane, VP of Mobile at AOL People Networks.

[via gomonews]

Bebo Launches Portal For U.S. Latinos

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:48:14 +0000

As of 2006 about 44.3 million Hispanics live in the U.S. That is about 15% of the total population. Bebo wants to capitalize on that by launching a Bebo portal for Latinos living in the U.S. Media partners involved in this project include Hearst and AOL Latino. The Bebo U.S. Latino website will have the latest in music, entertainment, videos, photos, polls, quizzes, surveys, and other content that is syndicated from MisQuinceMag.com.

“Expanding into new markets is a key pillar of our growth strategy, and we see huge potential for the growing Latino audience in the U.S. Our platform allows users to connect with other users, entertainment and brands, both globally and locally. The richness of our experience lies in the user’s ability to express him or herself – as evidenced in our new Lifestory feature – and in the ability to connect to people, media and brands through the Lifestream and our Open Media Platform,” stated Nicole Vanderbilt, VP of the International division at Bebo.

The launch of this new protal was made in conjunction with AOL’s new Spanish language resource guide TecnoPadres.com. Advertising for the new portal will be provided by AOL’s Platform A division. The full press release is available after the jump.

BEBO LAUNCHES U.S. LATINO SITE

- Bebo connects U.S. Hispanic users through its Lifestream platform with everyone and everything they care about

- Bebo expands with launch of U.S. Latino site

- Premier international entertainment and media publishers including Hearst Magazines Digital Media and AOL Latino incorporated in Bebo’s global Open Media Platform

New York and London – March 09, 2009: AOL People Networks today announced the launch of its Bebo U.S. Latino site, and opened its doors to Hearst Magazines Digital Media, a unit of Hearst Magazines, and AOL’s bilingual portal for U.S. Hispanics, AOL Latino.

Bebo is a social experience that helps individuals discover what’s going on with their world and helps the world discover what’s going on with them. Bebo’s Lifestream platform affords users a simple way to connect and keep up with everyone and everything they care about irrespective of which medium they use or where the activity takes place, be it on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or another site.

Customized for the U.S. Latino audience, the new site (http://www.bebo/com/c/latino)* marks Bebo’s continued expansion into new markets. Bebo has already gained a strong following as a social experience in the U.K., U.S., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Poland with more than 22 million** unique visitors worldwide.

On Bebo, users connect with both existing friends and with other users who share common interests and similar tastes. Through the Open Media platform and the Lifestream, they can discover and share the media they love wherever it lives. With its expansion into this important market, the social network is adding several channels of premium entertainment content from major local and global entertainment brands and emerging media companies.

Bebo’s new media partners for its U.S. Latino site, include Hearst Magazines Digital Media and AOL Latino, which will be incorporated in Bebo’s groundbreaking Open Media platform. AOL Latino will allow users (http://www.aollatino.com) easy access to a plethora of the latest in music and entertainment, while Hearst Magazines Digital Media will contribute videos, photo galleries, polls, quizzes, surveys and other top-quality interactive content syndicated from MisQuinceMag.com, Hearst’s comprehensive resource for Latina teens planning their quinceañeras. The majority of this content has been created by the site’s team of experts, including a blog from the fairy godmother of quinceañeras, Isabella Wall (http://www.bebo.com/mis_quince).

“Our team is excited to be working with Bebo on its launch for the U.S. Latino market and extending the strong partnership we already have with AOL,” said Christopher Johnson, VP, content and business development, Hearst Magazines Digital Media. “Combining Misquincemag.com’s expert content with Bebo’s popular social experience platform enables us to reach a new generation of young Latina women.”

Bebo’s U.S. Latino site will also feature premium entertainment content from AOL Latino (http://www.aollatino.com), the bilingual portal for U.S. Hispanics that offers comprehensive Spanish language products and services including U.S. and Latin American news, financial tools, the latest in music and entertainment, personal finance, sports, fashion and beauty.

Miguel Ferrer, Director of AOL Latino, said: “Our audience increasingly seeks greater access to their favorite music and entertainment programming. At a time when users can connect with content on any screen, anywhere and at the time of their choosing, Bebo’s Open Media platform allows us to distribute our original content in an environment where consumers can discover and easily engage with others around the content they love, wherever it lives.”

To increase viral opportunities for media owners and publishers, Bebo has created a “Share on Bebo” (http://www.bebo.com/c/share/help) button for publisher sites, making it simple to implement and creating a two-way conversation between the publisher and Bebo platform. When a user shares their favourite media content, a status update will appear in the users “sayings” and in their “Lifestream”, virally spreading the news to their entire network and driving traffic back to the media owner or publisher.

Bebo forms the centrepiece of the AOL People Networks business unit. People Networks’ collection of community platforms help improve people’s lives by connecting them with everyone and everything they care about. People Networks does this through a web-based experience on Bebo.com, through desktop clients and mobile devices. At the heart of People Networks is the Lifestream, a real-time platform for aggregating and distributing social feeds across mediums.

The launch of Bebo’s U.S. Latino platform is in conjunction with the launch of AOL Latino’s Spanish-language resource TecnoPadres.com, http://www.tecnopadres.com. This simultaneous launch further shows the integration of content across the three core businesses of AOL – MediaGlow, People Networks and Platform-A – and extends the reach of Bebo to AOL Latino consumers.

***
Notes to Editor:

Open Media: Established in November 2007 as a way for media companies to promote, distribute and monetize their programming, while giving users a new way to experience content online, Open Media allows users to explore, store and curate within their personal profiles their favourite global video content. They can then virally distribute that content throughout their ‘friends network’ and the wider Bebo community. MTV, CBS, BBC and more than 500 others are already a part of Open Media.

* Bebo.com is geo-targeted to show country specific content based on an individual’s location and IP address
About Bebo:
Bebo is your life online. It is a social experience the helps you discover what’s going on with your world and helps the world discover what’s going on with you. Bebo has more than 22 million** unique visitors worldwide and on the days that they use Bebo, they spend an average of 25 minutes** on the site.

Bebo forms part of the AOL People Networks business unit which combines Bebo, the AIM (excluding AIM Mail) and ICQ personal communications networks, widget technology company Goowy Media, social search and answer service Yedda, social aggregation service Socialthing! and Userplane. People Networks’ collection of community platforms reaches 93 million*** unduplicated users worldwide. Bebo is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL LLC, a majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.

Source for metrics data in this release:

** ComScore Media Metrix, January 2009

*** Custom AOL-defined People Networks report, based on comScore Media Metrix Audience Duplication report (January 2009)

About Hearst Magazines Digital Media:

Launched in March 2006, Hearst Magazines Digital Media, a unit of Hearst Magazines, is dedicated to creating and implementing the digital strategy for Hearst’s magazine brands and other sites which serve the company’s consumers and audience. The unit has launched, re-launched or acquired 25 Web sites and nine mobile sites for brands such as Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire and Seventeen, as well as original digital properties such as Delish.com, a food site in partnership with MSN; TheDailyGreen.com; and teen sites MisQuinceMag.com and MyPromStyle.com. To round out its growing portfolio of interests for teens and women, Hearst Digital has acquired Q&A platform Answerology.com; the eCrush Network (eCRUSH.com, eSPIN.com), a teen social community; social shopping site Kaboodle.com, and RealAge.com, a consumer health site.

Bebo Unveils Bebo Open Mobile

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:05:05 +0000

AOL social network Bebo has announced that they have launched Bebo Open Mobile. Bebo Open Mobile is a platform for mobile companies to build a device-compatible version of the social network. Bebo plans to work with mobile operators, handset manufacturing companies, and mobile software developers. Bebo has about 50 million users.

“Bebo Open Mobile is a new way to expand the power of social networking to program members,” stated Bebo Global Head of Mobile Sean Kane. “The Bebo Open Mobile suite of tools is designed to move mobile communication and user relationships forward by delivering a simple and more ubiquitous experience to users. A rapid and global shift towards mobile social networking consumption is in progress and Bebo is committed to leading the way.”

The tools that Bebo has released include Bebo Open Mobile Internet, Bebo Open Mobile Messaging, and Bebo Open Mobile Development API. Bebo is a part of AOL’s People Network unit. AOL’s People Networks unit includes Bebo, AIM, ICQ, Goowy Media, Yedda, and SocialThing! People Networks has about 94 million users worldwide. To join Bebo Open Mobile, e-mail openmobile@beboinc.com.