Criterion Capital Partners LLC, also known as simply Criterion, is a private equity fund based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

. It is best known for being the owner of

Bebo Bebo ( ) was an American social networking website that originally operated from 2005 until its bankruptcy in 2013 and relaunched in February 2021. The site relaunched several times after its bankruptcy with a number of short-lived offerings, ...

, from 2010-2013.

History

Christopher Lord co-founded the company in 2002. Criterion acquired social networking service

in 2010. Bebo was previously owned by AOL, who originally purchased the service for $850 million in 2008. The acquisition had failed as Bebo's business was declining. AOL sold the company for less than $10 million to

Criterion Criterion, or its plural form criteria, may refer to: General * Criterion, Oregon, a historic unincorporated community in the United States * Criterion Place, a proposed skyscraper in West Yorkshire, England * Criterion Restaurant, in London, Eng ...

. Following the acquisition, Bebo's business did not improve. In April 2012, the minority shareholders filed a $5 million suit against Criterion for “destroying the site". Then in May,

TechCrunch TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximat ...

reported that Bebo filed for voluntary

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whet ...

References

Online financial services companies of the United States Companies based in San Francisco {{US-internet-company-stub