Justin Timberlake buys his own social network with Myspace investment

Singer turned actor Justin Timberlake takes a stake in $35m purchase of Myspace from News Corp

Justin Timberlake is to take a "major role" in the new direction of Myspace after he emerged as one of those behind a $35m deal for the ailing social network.

The singer turned actor, who starred as Facebook investor Sean Parker in the Hollywood hit The Social Network, took a stake in Myspace along with the online advertising company, Specific Media.

The unlikely entrepreneur will "lead the business strategy" for the fallen social network, the Specific Media chief executive Tim Vangerhook, said on announcing the $35m deal on Wednesday evening.

Myspace has shed billions of dollars from its price tag since it was dethroned as the dominant social network in 2008. Ruper Murdoch's News Corporation agreed on Wednesday to sell Myspace for a fraction of the $100m it was seeking a sign of the site's dramatic fall from greatness.

In an interview with AdAge, Vanderhook said Timberlake, 30, had put his own money into buying Myspace, but refused to disclose how much. He confirmed that the former N Sync singer will have an office in Myspace but that he was "probably not going to be there every day".

Asked whether he thought Timberlake had been inspired by his star turn in The Social Network, Vanderhook said: "I don't think it was so much that that was just ironic. He's really passionate about how can he create a better community."

Timberlake said in a statement: "There's a need for a place where fans can go to interact with their favorite entertainers, listen to music, watch videos, share and discover cool stuff and just connect. Myspace has the potential to be that place.

"Art is inspir! ed by pe ople and vice versa, so there's a natural social component to entertainment. I'm excited to help revitalise Myspace by using its social media platform to bring artists and fans together in one community."

Just this week, Parker said Myspace's fall from grace was down to it being a "junkheap of bad design", while Facebook blossomed with lots of new features.

He told TV host Jimmy Fallon at the NExTWORK conference: "They weren't successful in treating and evolving the product enough, it was basically this junkheap of bad design that persisted for many many years. There was a period of time where if they had just copied Facebook rapidly, they would have been Facebook. They were giant, the network effects, the scale effects were enormous."

Myspace is expected to shed more than half of its 500 remaining staff as part of the deal. The layoffs follow a 30% staff reduction in April last year, and a further 47% cut in January. Two years ago Myspace employed more than 1,400 people.


guardian.co.uk Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


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