Last month Bebo founder Michael Birch bought back the failed social networking site he founded for $1 million. Today, he announced a plan to wipe the slate clean, and to start the site over. Gone, he promises in a hilarious video announcing the return of the site, are the penis illustrations and career-ruining photos.
“Will it work?” he asks of his plan to reinvigorate the site. “Who knows, but it’ll be fun trying.”
Bebo’s story is one of a spectacular fall from grace. Birch sold the site – at one point the most popular social network in the UK, eclipsing even MySpace – to AOL for $850 million in 2008, and walked away with nearly $600 million from the deal.
The site quickly buckled under the ascent of Facebook, however, and its audience numbers plummeted.
AOL eventually sold the site to digital media investors Criterion Capital Partners in 2010 for a reported $10 million – at a loss of $840 million. Birch himself bought it back last month for just $1 million.
Here he is in his own words:
More in Media
How creators are using generative AI in podcasts, videos and newsletters — and what advertisers think about it
Here’s a look at how some creators are leveraging generative AI to create video, audio and written content — and whether or not that’s a turn-off for advertisers.
Buzzfeed, News Corp and New York Times push back on tariff fears in earnings calls
Publishing execs pushed back on tariff and macroeconomic climate fears in Q1 2025 earnings calls, expressing confidence that their businesses would grow this year.
Digiday+ Research: Publishers’ subscription revenue is up this year, and they’ll focus on growing it even further
Subscriptions is one area where publishers are seeing more revenue, and, in turn, ramping up their plans to strengthen that part of their business in the coming months.