Social Media Biz Briefs – Google’s Old Twitter Bid and Facebook’s New Investment

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InvestorPlace
Friday’s social media business round-up is chock full of failed acquisition news, private investment and growing revenue for social networks. First is a look at Fortune ‘s scandalous article on Twitter and the bidding on the micro-blogging company over the past twelve months. Second, T. Rowe Price pours cash into Facebook and Zynga. Finally, PopCap games continues to grow thanks to social networking. Twitter Rejected $10 Billion Offer From Google: The Internet has been buzzing following the Thursday publication of a report at Fortune containing a number of juicy tidbits on Twitter’s business. The article highlighted an older rumor that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) attempted to purchase Twitter for $10 billion in the fall of 2010, a rumor that was denied by Twitter CEO Dick Costolo shot down at the Mobile World Conference in February. The Fortune article also claims that Facebook offered $2 billion for the company. As Venture Beat points out, it was only in February that The Wall Street Journal valued Twitter at $8 to $10 billion, meaning that it’s all too likely that Twitter rejected Google’s offer hoping for a higher bid. Facebook, Zynga Get Investment Boosts from T. Rowe Price: Investment company T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW ) has not been shy about staking its claim in social media. Though it hasn’t invested in venture capital funded companies or Internet stocks with any regularity over the past two decades, it’s made bold moves in the sector recently. The mutual fund company poured $100 million into Twitter in 2009, valuing the company at $1 billion right as the network was beginning its monumental period of growth. Now a Friday report at The Wall Street Journal says that T. Rowe has invested $55.4 million in social network Facebook and $72 million in social video game developer Zynga ( Farmville ). The relatively high risk of investing in companies still months away from offering IPOs speaks volumes of their value to investors. While it’s unlikely that Facebook or Twitter will be acquired in the near future, Zynga remains a promising target and T.Rowe Price’s stake in the company could yield a monumental payout sometime in the next twelve months. Game Site PopCap Sees Revenue Soar Thanks to Social Networks: PopCap Games, the company behind PC video game phenomenon Bejeweled , had a banner year according to a new report at Business Insider . The Seattle, Washington company made $100 million in revenue in 2010, up 25% year-on-year. While the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL ) App Store on the iPhone and iPad played a significant part in the company’s jump, it was Facebook users that led growth for PopCap in 2010. Its game Bejeweled Blitz came in number five in terms of daily users just behind Zynga’s four titles including Cityville , Farmville , Texas Holdem , and Frontiersville . As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at  @ajohnagnello and  become a fan of  InvestorPlace on Facebook.