--- title: PayPal is eyeing a $45B acquisition of Pinterest — does it make sense? - The Hustle description: PayPal can help Pinterest up its ecommerce game while connecting the social platform with its 30m+ merchants. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/GIFs/1925675473-News-Brief_2021-10-25T000428.060Z.webp --- # PayPal is eyeing a $45B acquisition of Pinterest — does it make sense? ![Trung T. Phan](https://thehustle.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Image-from-iOS-300x300.jpg?width=48&height=48&name=Image-from-iOS-300x300.jpg) [Trung T. Phan](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/trung-t-phan) [Trung T. Phan Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/TrungTPhan) Published: October 25, 2021 Updated: October 11, 2023 *If Leonardo da Vinci had Pinterest (Souce: YouTube / Pinterest)* ![PayPal is eyeing a $45B acquisition of Pinterest — does it make sense?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/GIFs/1925675473-News-Brief_2021-10-25T000428.060Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1925675473-News-Brief_2021-10-25T000428.060Z.webp) Most of us know Pinterest as the social media platform built around digital pinboards and images. Soon, we may know it as part of one of the largest social M&A deals ever. PayPal — the $290B payments firm — is in talks to acquire Pinterest for **$45B**. #### **Does the deal make sense?** Pinterest has a large audience (**454m** users) that is primarily female and creates content for commerce-friendly verticals like fashion and home decor, according to [*Bloomberg*](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-21/why-would-paypal-pypl-buy-pinterest-pins-online-shopping-reasons). Right now, the platform makes most of its money with ads, but it’s very under-monetized. By comparison, Facebook has **47x** the revenue of Pinterest with only **6x **as many users. With resources and backing from PayPal, Pinterest could build on-platform ecommerce tools (think of how users make purchases within Instagram). PayPal would get a 2.9% payment fee on any transaction. #### **Another deal ‘synergy’ (can’t believe we used this word)** PayPal can encourage its **32m** merchants to advertise on Pinterest. Why would Pinterest do the deal? Per [*The Motley Fool*](https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/10/23/is-pinterest-waving-the-white-flag-in-paypal-talks/), the social platform has: - Slowing revenue growth - A shrinking domestic user base - HR issues including its co-founder and chief creative officer recently leaving the firm As long as no one touches this “dad jokes” [pinboard](https://www.pinterest.ca/klrached/dad-jokes/), the deal sounds reasonable enough to us. 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