thearchivist.funDigg is sold for a reported half a million dollars
In July 2012 the news site Digg was sold to Betaworks, the company behind Bit.ly and Chartbeat. CNN Money reported that the financial terms were not officially disclosed, with the Wall Street Journal putting the price at about 500,000 dollars. Betaworks planned to rebuild Digg as a small, fast-moving project using a team drawn from its News.me staff rather than Digg's existing employees. The report put the figure against Digg's earlier valuations: BusinessWeek's 2006 cover story had valued it at 200 million dollars, and in 2008 there were reports of a Google purchase for the same amount that did not go ahead. Digg had raised 45 million dollars from investors. The sale is a document of a platform's slide from a front page that could send thousands of readers to a story to a small property bought at a fraction of its earlier value.
Context and provenance
Treat the price as reported, not confirmed. The more durable fact is the sequence: a peak valuation, a failed sale, a rebuild and a low-cost sale. The record does not explain why users left; that needs its own sources.
Keep price claims tied to their source. The 500,000 dollar figure was reported by a newspaper and relayed by CNN Money, and the deal's terms were not officially disclosed. A careful sentence says 'reported to have sold for about 500,000 dollars' and names the outlet. Valuation figures from 2006 and 2008 are likewise reports.
Transmission timeline
- 2006
BusinessWeek valued Digg at 200 million dollars in a cover story.
- 2008
Reports that Google was in talks to buy Digg for 200 million dollars; Google pulled out.
- 2012-07-12
Digg's sale to Betaworks is reported.
Why it matters
Digg's sale put a number on how fast a social news front page can lose its value.
What remains uncertain
The sale price comes from a Wall Street Journal report relayed by CNN Money. The date comes from the URL.
Sources and evidence
- CNN Money: Digg sold to Betaworks
Buyer, reported price, earlier valuations, funding raised, plan for the rebuild.
Editorial review: 2026-10-22. New evidence may change this account.