Myspace purchase a 'huge mistake': Murdoch

News Corp's purchase of Myspace was a "huge mistake" and the social network was mismanaged "in every possible way" following the acquisition, chief executive Rupert Murdoch said Friday.

Murdoch, addressing shareholders at the media and entertainment company's annual meeting in Los Angeles, said News Corp.'s 2005 purchase of Myspace for $580 million was seen as "fantastic" at the time.

"We paid $600 million," Murdoch said. "We could have sold it for $6 billion a month later."

Myspace, however, was quickly eclipsed by Facebook, which has grown to more than 800 million members as Myspace's numbers have dwindled.

"I made a huge mistake," Murdoch said of the Myspace acquisition.

"We then proceeded to mismanage it in every possible way," he said, adding that "all of the people concerned with it are no longer with the company."

News Corp. sold Myspace in June for $35 million, just six percent of its purchase price, to Specific Media, a digital ad-targeting platform.

Murdoch also defended News Corp. during the meeting from criticisms by shareholders angry about a phone-hacking scandal in Britain that led to the closure of the tabloid weekly The News of the World.

(c) 2011 AFP