Facebook Acquisition Rumors Again, This Time its Microsoft

A few months ago, well its actually more than 6 now (my how time flies), the buzz about the Web 2.0 industry was how Yahoo's Terry Semmel (CEO at the time) was about to score a big coup and snag up Facebook.  Those rumors fell flat as a pancake when Facebook flatly turned Yahoo! down.

Rumor also has it that Facebook's also snubbed off Microsoft overture's as well. 

Here we are over 6 months later and now we're hearing rumors of Microsoft courting / about to buy Facebook again, honestly, I do not buy it at all.  Sure it makes sense for Microsoft, and sure Facebook's advertising isn't doing so well (from the advertisers' perspective) but there are a lot of other signs that Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg is going to do to Steve Ballmer what he did to Terry Semmel.  If he does, there's likely to be a few more chairs flying across the room.

Here's why I just don't buy into the whole acquisition thing.  Zuckerberg has notoriously snubbed all of the big guys, from the Valleyfreude (yes, that's his sister Randi Jayne) video being produced (and now gone from Randi Jayne's site) to leaving Yahoo! with egg on their faces, they are bucking the establishment.  This is why their users love Facebook - rebel against "the system", if the creator of Facebook does it, its a "cool" place to be.

Facebook wants to go the IPO route, not be acquired, they are even advertising for a stock options administrator.  Although they did reply to Webware's questions with:

"Facebook grants stock options to its full-time employees," the company rep said in an e-mail. "The company is looking to hire a few hundred people this year and we need someone dedicated to administering the grant process."

I could end up with egg on my own face by saying this, but I just don't see a Microsoft acquisition of Facebook in the cards.  I see Mark Zuckerberg making a bigger fool of Steve Ballmer than he did of Terry Semmel.

How about you?  What do you think?