There’s been an interesting story making the rounds of the blogosphere this weekend, claiming that Plaxo is about to be acquired by Xing for $250M. The gist of the story is that this is part of Xing’s efforts to enter the US market, where Xing faces stiff competition from LinkedIn. The rumor first appeared in Techcrunch, and was soon picked up by CNET and GigaOM.
Of course, denying rumors usually just fans the flames of speculation—but for what it’s worth, this one isn’t true. Plaxo isn’t currently “in play.” We’re heads-down, working on an all-new Plaxo, as well as delivering on our partnerships, such as the one that we recently announced with Comcast.
It’s fun to try to figure out where these rumors come from. At various points in time over the past several months, I have had lunch with Lars Hinrichs (CEO of Xing) and with Reid Hoffman (Chairman of LinkedIn). But, we did not talk about acquisition. And, my lunch on Friday was one of the 3-for-a-dollar ramen soups we stock in the Plaxo snack room. ;^)
Ben Golub
CEO