Mashable Worth Only $40 Million--One Fifth Of Rumored Price

Reuters blogger Felix Salmon reported that CNN was close to a purchase of tech site Mashable. The price, he reported, would be $200 million. That is a remarkably high figure for a property which has 9.5 million visitors, according to measurement service Quantcast. The number has not grown over the last six months, but is up over the last year.

24/7 Wall St.’s annual blog valuation puts the value of Mashable closer to $40 million, about the same amount as tech and business site Business Insider. The two properties have approximately the same audience sizes.

The 24/7 2011 blog valuation report on Mashable reported

Pete Cashmore and his site’s prolific bloggers are the evangelists of social media. Founded only a few years ago out of his parents’ home in Scotland, Cashmore has turned Mashable into the most influential blog on the intersection of social media and business. Because of the subject matter it covers, Mashable often gains traffic from sites like Twitter and Facebook. The impressive lineup from premium advertisers reflects well on the site. Similarly, its successful number of conferences may be an even better indicator. According to a recent article in the New York Times, the blog does not rely on outside investors for financing, and instead has “financed its expansion […] by steadily increasing revenue and carefully managing expenses.” That goes a long way to improve valuation.

Our editors believe that Mashable’s revenue is between $10 million and $15 million.

Several media outlets have already said the $200 million estimate is absurd.