Mirabilis
Mirabilis ( Latin for admirable , amazing ) was the name of an Israeli company that developed the popular instant messaging program ICQ . The company was founded in 1996 by the four Israelis Arik Vardi , Yair Goldfinger , Sefi Vigiser and Amnon Amir and was bought by AOL just two years later .
Originally, Mirabilis was funded by Yossi Vardi, Arik Vardi's father. The businessman believed in the business idea and advertised ICQ, although the chances of success were assessed as extremely low.
ICQ grew rapidly as more and more users spread the idea by word of mouth and got their friends and acquaintances to use the program as well. There was a strong network effect, as communication with one another can only take place if both partners use the same system - ICQ.
Although Mirabilis had no revenue at the time, AOL bought the company in 1998 for a total of $ 407 million ( $ 287 million in cash and $ 120 million over three years). Although AOL also offers its own instant messenger, the AOL Instant Messenger , ICQ was developed by AOL.
In 2010, Mirabilis was sold on to the Russian investment company Digital Sky Technologies, which has been called Mail.ru Group since September 2010 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Peter-Michael Ziegler: ICQ sold to Russia. heise online, April 28, 2010, accessed on November 16, 2010 .
- ↑ BUSINESS WIRE: Digital Sky Technologies (DST) Changes Name to Mail.ru Group. (No longer available online.) September 16, 2010, archived from the original on April 19, 2011 ; Retrieved November 16, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
