12/07/2025
Back in 2008, Mark Zuckerberg had one goal: to eliminate Twitter.
He didn’t just want to compete - he offered $500 million to buy them… just to shut them down from the inside.
But Twitter discovered the real plan, and what followed became one of tech’s biggest rivalries.
Imagine this: October 2008.
Twitter was still small, barely hitting 11 million users.
Meanwhile, Facebook was a giant, already soaring past 100 million.
But Zuckerberg wasn’t comfortable.
He saw a spark on Twitter, something dangerous. Something that could challenge everything Facebook was building.
For months, Zuckerberg had been quietly working on Twitter’s
co-founder, Jack Dorsey.
Endless emails. Multiple meetings.
His message was clear, and carried a subtle warning: Facebook could easily shift its features to compete directly with Twitter.
But there was just one flaw in his plan… and it changed everything:
Jack Dorsey was no longer in charge; he had just been pushed out as Twitter’s CEO.
So, he couldn’t greenlight any deal.
The real shot-callers?
Ev Williams and Biz Stone.
When Zuckerberg finally got them to Facebook HQ for a meeting, what happened next caught everyone off guard…
Ev Williams put a number on the table: $500 million.
Zuckerberg didn’t flinch; he’d anticipated that figure from earlier talks with Dorsey.
But then things took a turn.
Right in front of Zuckerberg, Williams began drafting an email… addressed to Twitter’s board:
“There are three reasons to sell a company,” Williams typed.
The offer is too good to pass up.
A major competitor is closing in.
You get the chance to work under someone truly exceptional.
Then he paused… and gave his final verdict:
“We’ve always believed Twitter is worth at least a billion,” he wrote.
“In fact, I think it’s worth several times that.”
“There’s no real threat capable of wiping Twitter out.”
Then came the dagger:
“I have serious doubts about Facebook’s people, and their way of doing business.”
To be continued...