My Jaw Is On The Ground

The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.) is looking at the battle between two rich as shit companies striving to get even richer, a process which is about to make a bunch of other people--including Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard dropout like Bill Gates--extremely rich.

Microsoft in recent weeks approached Facebook with proposals to invest in the startup that could value the fast-growing site at $10 billion or higher, said people familiar with the matter. If those talks bear fruit, Microsoft could purchase a stake of up to 5% in the closely held startup, at a cost in the range of $300 million to $500 million, the people said.

But Microsoft must first outgun Google, which has also expressed strong interest in a Facebook stake, according to people familiar with the matter.

Ten billion dollars. Can we let that linger a moment?

Ten billion dollars...