Zuckerberg reportedly tried to buy Snapchat for over $1 billion

Even as self-destructing messaging service Snapchat looks to raise money at $3-4 billion valuation, it has been revealed that Mark Zuckerberg attempted to pick the company up for more than $1 billion.

A report by The Wall Street Journal has revealed that Zuckerberg, at one point of time, offered the startup a sum of more than $1 billion, the amount he paid to pick up photo-sharing application Instagram last year. Zuck’s attempts were reportedly shot down by Snapchat’s CEO and Co-Founder Evan Spiegel who did not wish to sell his service to the social networking website.

Facebook wanted a taste of Snap

For those not in the know, Snapchat is a revolutionary application that allows users to send private images and videos – or “snaps” – to friends that have an expiry time. The image will self-destruct within 10 seconds of opening, or when the finger is lifted off the screen by the receiver – whichever takes place first.

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The app has become something of a necessity for teenagers, especially in the west. More often than not, it is used as a tool for sending sexts by youngsters. Snapchat claims that its users are sending 350 million snaps a day, up from the 200 million being sent in June.

Interestingly, Facebook has tried to pull off something similar with a self-destructing messaging application of its own called Poke that works just like Snapchat. Sadly, it has failed to capitalise on Snapchat’s craze. While Spiegel refused to comment on the story that Snapchat was offered millions to be taken over by Facebook, the social networking website noted that the company did not respond to rumours or market speculation.