Tech History: Yahoo Passed on Buying Google for $1M

In 1998, Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, offered to sell their fledgling search engine to Yahoo for just $1 million.

Yahoo declined.

At the time, Yahoo didn’t view search as a core business and feared Google’s model—directing users away—conflicted with their goal of keeping users on their own platform.

Just a few years later, Yahoo tried again, offering $3 billion. By then, Google had taken off—and wasn’t for sale.

Fast forward:

• Google is now worth over $1.5 trillion

• Yahoo? A cautionary tale in missed innovation

💡 Lesson:

Don’t underestimate new tech just because it doesn’t fit your current model. The future doesn’t always knock twice.