In 1998, Google's founders offered to sell their search engine to Yahoo for $1 million. Yahoo said no. In 2002, Yahoo had another chance to buy Google for $5 billion. They negotiated it down to $3 billion, and Google walked away. Google is now worth over $2 trillion.
Yahoo Could Have Bought Google. Twice. They Said No Both Times.
In 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin were PhD students at Stanford running a search engine out of a garage. They didn''t want to run a company — they wanted to finish their degrees. So they tried to sell Google.
Google is now Alphabet, worth over $2 trillion. Yahoo is a brand name owned by a private equity firm. Two chances, two refusals, one of the most expensive "no" in business history.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Verified Fact
The $1M 1998 offer is documented in "The Google Story" by David Vise and confirmed by multiple sources. The 2002 $5B negotiation is reported by Fortune, Business Insider, and confirmed by Terry Semel in interviews. Yahoo sold to Verizon for $4.48B in 2017.
Fortune