Rupert Murdoch, the executive chairman of News Corporation, ruled out an acquisition of the social networking site Facebook yesterday on the grounds that it is overvalued.

Speaking to shareholders in New York, at the group’s annual general meeting, Mr Murdoch said that, “as long as they keep talking about $10-$15 billion”, an acquisition of the group would be out of the question.

He added that the price would need to come down a long way for the media giant, which is the parent company of The Times, to be attracted.

News Corporation already owns the Facebook rival MySpace, which it bought in 2005 for $580 million.

Both Facebook and MySpace are websites that allow users to chat free on the internet and share information such as photographs. The sites are funded from revenue from advertising.

Mr Murdoch yesterday cast doubt on the future direction of social networking sites: “No one knows what the scene is going to look like in five years’ time. It is the Wild West out there.”

At a conference this week in San Francisco, Mr Murdoch indicated that, if Facebook were worth $15 billion, that would give MySpace an implied value of about $50 billion.

Addressing shareholders, Mr Murdoch reiterated that he expects the acquisition of Dow Jones, the owner of The Wall Street Journal, to be completed by the end of the year.

Dow Jones, whose board has recommended a $5.2 billion takeover offer from News Corporation, is still to allow its shareholders to vote on the deal.

This week News Corporation launched Fox Business Network, a cable TV channel to compete with the financial news coverage of CNBC, which has been in operation since 1989.

Mr Murdoch said that the group plans to invest $70 million on the channel in the current financial year, and as much as $200 million over the next three to four years.

“We have many challenges against an entrenched competitor. I am confident that our new approach to business news will be successful,” Mr Murdoch said.

News Corporation shares fell almost 4 per cent to close at $21.23 on Wall Street.

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