Roundup: FriendFinder files for IPO to pay off debts, fallout continues from Madoff’s scheme

December 24, 2008 | Matt Marshall | Comments | |

Here’s the latest action:

FriendFinder, the online company that helps people connect for sex, and which also owns Penthouse, has filed for an IPO — The company apparently sees an IPO as the only way to raise enough money to pay off its mounting debts — now that advertising isn’t working out as well as planned. We wrote about FriendFinder’s challenges back when Penthouse first purchased AdultFriendFinder (the company’s name was changed after the acquisition). Namely, it faces competition from user-generated sites. It is hoping to raise as much as $460 million.

Possible suicide related to Madoff’s Ponzi scheme? — Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, co-founder of hedge fund Access International Advisors, which had poured more than a $1 billion into Bernard Madoff’s massive alleged Ponzi scheme and lost it, was found dead early Tuesday in his Manhattan office, in what some believe was a suicide. Meantime, Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, said today (Wednesday) it lost $15 million dollars to Madoff — or nearly all its assets.

PlayStation 3 appears to be losing money — A teardown on the costs of the PlayStation 3 shows it now costs $448.73 to build, while it sells for $399.

Silicon Valley can help Detroit? Kleiner’s Lane thinks so – Kleiner Perkins partner Ray Lane says Fisker, the electric vehicle company he has backed, will make 500,000 vehicles for between $200 million or $300 million. “I don’t need a billion dollars,” Lane says, arguing that Detroit’s Big 3 should outsource their innovation to companies like Fisker.

Elevation Partners invests another $100 million in Palm — Palm, the mobile device maker, which has struggled lately amid severe competition from the iPhone and the Blackberry, needed the cash to stay robust during the downturn.

World of Warcraft hits record 11.5 million users — An impressive milestone for arguably the world’s most popular game, but will the players be able to get jobs?

Notebooks overtake desktops for the first time ever in third quarter — Notebook shipments worldwide exceeded those of desktops, rising almost 40 percent in the third quarter of 2008 compared to the same period of 2007 to reach 38.6 million units, according to iSuppli. Desktop PC shipments declined by 1.3 percent to 38.5 million units.

Set-top box company Vudu slashes price of its units by $200 — The set-tops are now priced at $99, coincidentally the same price as competitor Roku.

Micron, the largest U.S. manufacturer of memory chips, posts $706 million loss — The prices of its DRAM and NAND Flash memory products have plunged. This is its eight quarterly loss in a row.

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  • I think FriendFinder will find great challenge as more and more users opt to use traditional social networks to connect with people rather than rely on adult sites.
  • Robert
    re: Penthouse/FFN - traditional advertising was a very small portion of overall revenue and it may be off a few hundred thousand dollars, but FriendFinder is generating many millions in profit. The customer base is huge (almost 300 million and growing worldwide) and this spells opportunity.
  • RC
    I'd be interested to see what type of vehicle that Ray Lane could build for just $600($300mil/500K).

    As for what value SV could add to building capital equipment I'd be keen to guess. So few companies build anything bigger than a sheet metal enclosure for PCBs and have few moving parts I would ask how this will benefit car companies that require large production facilities and rigorous safety testing. The hallmarks of the valley are to outsource development and production to foreign countries. This combined with the reliance of ever increasing sales outside the US means they have few incentives to build here or even sell here.

    Maybe Lane could add a few specifics. Of course this is most likely just business bluster that we see here in SV. This is what I would expect from a former software company executive who has no understanding of complicated mechanical design and manufacturing.
  • PacificGatePost
    LEARNING FROM BERNIE MADOFF

    WHAT IF .... a letter written by Bernie Madoff explaining himself was discovered?
    --
    http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2009/01/ber...
    -
    ….in his own words?
  • "Silicon Valley can help Detroit? Kleiner’s Lane thinks so – Kleiner Perkins partner Ray Lane says Fisker, the electric vehicle company he has backed, will make 500,000 vehicles for between $200 million or $300 million." --- Wow this is great! Because Electric cars emit far lower levels of pollutants in the air than normal gas cars.