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Election 2026

The results of the 27 October vote

1998Companies

America Online buys the Israeli maker of ICQ for $287 million in cash.

ICQ, short for I seek you, tells people the moment a friend comes online, and its maker, Mirabilis, spread it by word of mouth with no advertising.

The story in numbers.

  • $287million

    paid in cash by AOL

    SourceJTA

  • ≈13million

    downloads in 19 months

    SourceJTA

  • 100million

    registered accounts at its peak

    SourceEngadget

Here is how it happened.

  • 1996

    Three young programmers and an investor found Mirabilis.

    The programmers are aged 24 to 27, and the investor is Yossi Vardi. They start the company with $3.2 million.

    SourceJTA

  • November 1996

    ICQ launches as a free download.

    It lets users chat and exchange files with friends all over the world. It tells them instantly when a friend comes online.

    SourceJTA

  • A smiling older man with glasses and a moustache, in a black and white portrait

    1996 to 1998

    Users spread it without any advertising.

    Vardi calls the strategy word-of-mouse. By mid-1998 nearly 13 million people have downloaded the program, and the company has earned no revenue.

    SourceJTA

  • June 1998

    America Online agrees to buy Mirabilis for $287 million in cash.

    Mirabilis could earn another $120 million after 2001. The company has 70 employees at the time.

    SourceJTA

  • 26 June 2024

    ICQ stops working after more than 27 years.

    It had reached 100 million registered accounts in the early 2000s. Its Russian owner, VK, points users to its other chat apps.

    SourceEngadget

1 of 5

Here is why it matters.

The company was under two years old, had 70 employees and no revenue when it sold. Israeli analysts quoted at the time said AOL was buying its millions of users.

Three more milestones to read next.

  • The Check Point office building in Tel Aviv, with green walls

    1993

    The Israeli company Check Point is founded, and ships FireWall-1 in 1994.

    Read the story

  • The Wix headquarters building at Tel Aviv Port

    2013

    Wix, the Israeli website-building company, lists on Nasdaq, raising $127 million.

    Read the story

  • Uri Levine, a co-founder of Waze, speaking into a microphone

    2013

    Google confirms it is acquiring Waze, the Israeli navigation app.

    Read the story

Where each fact was read.

Sources read on 1 November 2026.