Justin Timberlake did not help Chris and Tim Vanderhook buy MySpace until after they announced that he had. When News Corp prepared to sell MySpace in 2011, nobody running the process wanted to meet the brothers. Their advertising company was relatively unknown, and larger bidders already had access. So they invented an advantage. Chris and Tim issued a press release implying Timberlake had joined their acquisition team. He had not. The announcement attracted enough attention to get them into the conversation, and a mutual connection eventually brought them to a closed restaurant in New York to pitch Timberlake for real. He agreed. News Corp had paid $580 million for MySpace 6 years earlier. The Vanderhooks and Timberlake acquired it for $35 million, then rebuilt the site around music and entertainment. Closing the deal immediately exposed what the headline price concealed. Advertisers kept cancelling because their audiences had moved to Facebook. Years of management changes had exhausted employees and users. Chris says their attempt to revive MySpace eventually burned slightly more than $150 million. They still own the brand. Now Chris and Tim say another relaunch is coming whenever timing feels right. If it fails, they intend to try again. Their first MySpace deal began with a fake press release that became real. 15 years and $150 million later, they are still trying to do the same thing with MySpace itself.

Did you know? MySpace is coming back? 👀 The current owners have confirmed plans to relaunch the platform 🔄, stating they remain stewards of the brand and are waiting for the right moment. In recent remarks tied to a new documentary, they note that modern social media has grown overly driven by addictive algorithms focused on maximizing time spent online 📱⏳. A revival emphasizing genuine connections over engagement metrics could offer a meaningful alternative 🤝✨. What are your thoughts?