AOL Sheds $315 Million in Value Since Buying Huffington Post… For $315 Million

Over the weekend, AOL purchased the Huffington Post for $315 million. Yeah, I know right? They outbid the second highest bidder by about $315 million.

And how did Wall Street react to this bad investment? By dumping AOL stock to the tune of AOL losing approximately $315 million in stock value. In one day:

You pay for what you get.

Arianna Huffington and Ken Lerer, co-founders of the Huffington Post, are said to be walking away with a combined $80 million to $100 million from an original $2 million per person investment — but so far AOL stockholders aren’t seeing that kind of return.

Since Feb. 1, the price of AOL shares has dropped from $23.85 to $20.89 at yesterday’s close.

With 106.7 million shares outstanding, that means AOL has shed $315 million in value over the last five trading days — which happens to be exactly the same price AOL agreed to pay to acquire HuffPo.