InfoWorld is reporting that Terra Lycos is selling its US-based Lycos operation. Now the good news here is that Terra is selling it for as much as $115 million. Not bad for a web site huh? Unfortunately, the bad news is that they paid $12.5 billion for it just 4 years ago. Let's pause for a moment to let that settle in shall we...
If you're having trouble wrapping your head around that, let me put it in terms us real folks can relate to. Imagine buying something for $125. Then one day you need to sell it, but you find out it's only worth $1.15. Yup, that's right... four quarters, a dime, and a nickel. Ouch.
Oh, and in anticipation of your next obvious question, the answer is “No”. The former head of Terra that decided to buy Lycos then, is no longer with the company, and therefore is not the same person that decided to sell Lycos today.
If you're wondering just who Terra is and how the heck they could afford $12.5 billion for Lycos in the first place... They were -- and still are -- an immensely popular internet portal in Europe. Based in Spain, they were essentially the Yahoo of Europe back in 2000. The whole point of buying Lycos was to move into the US market and duplicate their success here. So much for that plan.