The $20 million investment signals the firm's expansion into the competitive e-publishing business.
Published:
8 June 2000 y., Thursday
In a move that further shakes up the roiling world of e-publishing, Barnesandnoble.com has taken a nearly 25 percent stake in MightyWords.com, a division of e-publisher Fatbrain.com (FATB) which will be spun off as a separate company.
The online bookseller paid $20 million for the stake. MightyWords also received $10 million on Tuesday from Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures (Paul Allen has previously invested in the company), as well as $6 million from sources that include VC firm Millennium Partners.
MightyWords, which has been among the most aggressive in adding original content to its offerings – it counts deals with authors Toni Morrison and Pete Hamill among its coups – says it is scaling back its publishing activities to become more of "an infrastructure play," according to founder and CEO Chris MacAskill.
MightyWords will use the money toward "aggregating content" – a euphemism for its efforts to land big-ticket authors – as well as other purposes. After MightyWords is spun off, Fatbrain will continue to focus on selling technical and professional books.
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