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Twitter valued at $8 bn in new deal
MUMBAI: Twitter has raised fresh capital of $800 million in a deal that values the micro-blogging site at $8 billion.
Twitter said it has received a “significant” round of funding from current investors and new investor Digital Sky Technologies, the investment engine run by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner who also has stakes in Facebook. It did not, however, disclose the financial details.
The latest round of funding has bloated the value of Twitter. In December, it had raised $200 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and other firms in a deal that valued the company at $3.7 billion.
In a blog post, Twitter said: “We will use these resources to aggressively innovate, hire more great people and invest in international expansion.”
In a statement released by Twitter, Milner said: “Twitter‘s astonishing growth is a testament to how important it is becoming to more people every day, and why we couldn‘t pass up the chance to be a bigger part of its future.”
The fund-raising goes on to show the growing importance of social networking companies and their relevance in the marketplace. Currently, Twitter is on track to generate $150 million in advertising revenue this year, according to research firm eMarketer
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
