Viacom won't bid on Facebook

Last we checked in on Facebook it was reportedly in serious talks with Yahoo! for a billion-dollar buy-out. This week comes news that Viacom, long considered a prime candidate for ownership of Facebook after its "humiliating" loss to News Corp. in the battle for Myspace, has ruled out bidding for the booming social networking site. Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone recently told Charlie Rose that though they considered a Facebook buy-out, they eventually decided that "the price is too high." Instead, Redstone said Viacom is looking at younger start-ups that are "on the cutting-edge of greatness and (where) we could make it grow." He also dodged questions about whether Viacom is after YouTube, calling it "a very good company."

Tags: facebook, myspace, newscorp, socialnetworking, Sumner Redstone, SumnerRedstone, viacom