News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rif... by ctdonath on Tuesday March 25, 2014 @10:46PM (#7471236)
The problem with grokking Facebook's involvement is the lack of any apparent connection between VR and FB's core competencies. Google at least can use Glass for ever-more data mining. VR? FB? Carmack can sure put the $2B to good use, but how it benefits FB nobody seems to know.
Re:Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rif... by dropit_sphere on Wednesday March 26, 2014 @12:06AM (#7471517)
What's funny is that everyone would breathe a giant sigh of relief if, when asked about the deal, Zuckerberg just grinned boyishly and said, "It's a VR company run by Carmack, and I'm a multibillionaire. Of course I wanted to own it."
Re:Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rif... by ejain on Wednesday March 26, 2014 @02:04AM (#7471867)
Maybe; but Zuckerberg didn't buy the company, Facebook did.
Re:Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rif... by DennisP on Wednesday March 26, 2014 @11:00AM (#7473834)
Zuckerberg has complete control, with 57% of Facebook voting rights.

http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/01/zuck-power-play/

Re:Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rif... by _cbb1 on Wednesday March 26, 2014 @01:26PM (#7474894)
This article could be out of date because it was written in 2012. It's been reported that he has sold some shares.
Re:Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rif... by csense on Wednesday March 26, 2014 @06:11PM (#7477014)
As a public company, isn't Facebook required to report how much of the company is owned by all major shareholders?
Re:Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rif... by ctdonath on Wednesday March 26, 2014 @02:16PM (#7475220)
If Z doesn't have complete control, he's still got most control. Either way he knows that it's easier/cheaper to make FB the legal owner.

If you're gonna spend $2B to buy something you want, better if you can get someone else to foot the bill.

Re:Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rif... by tod222 on Wednesday March 26, 2014 @08:28PM (#7477723)
Except that Carmack and Oculus won't see a lot of that money. Oculus raised $91 million (2.4 of that from Kickstarter) [1] including a $75 million series B round last December. [2]

It's the investors who will get a lot of Facebook's money. Also, Facebook's stock dropped yesterday in reaction to the move and it's being reported that the deal is worth $200 million less as a result. [3]

The B round investors held it for such a short time it's almost like they flipped it to Facebook.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculus_Rift

[2] http://venturebeat.com/2013/12/12/oculus-vr-raises-75m-from-...

[3] http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2014/03/26/facebook-sha...