More Videos
- Yahoo Escapes Ironhorse Grip; For Now
- HP And EDS: Why The Deal? Look To India And IBM
- HP's One-Two "Punch" With Earnings And EDS
- RIM's BlackBerry Bold Is Something To Behold
- Google's Back! (Did It Ever Leave?)
- Microsoft's About Face With Facebook--Is It In Writing?
- Yahoo's Propaganda Machine ( And How To Cover Themselves)
- Yahoo's Sue Decker Speaks Out On Microsoft Deal
- Yahoo Falls, Microsoft Gains and You're Angry
- For Whom the Opening Bell Tolls: Yahoo Shareholders
- Lightning Round OT: Yamana, Itron and More
- Sudden Death: Walgreen, Unitedhealth and More
- Mad Mail: True Religion's Designer Jeans Cult
- Wine Wiz Gary Vaynerchuk Talks Vino
- Lightning Round: McMoran, Pepsi, Systemax and More
- Cramer Still Bullish on Owens-Illinois
- Toll Brothers' Plan to Save Economy
- Your First Move For Wednesday May 14th
- A "Marvell" To Behold
- Fast Message - We Answer Your Questions
- Lightning Round OT: Yamana, Itron and More
- Asian Markets Are Mostly Flat, Financials Slip
- Oil Prices Finish Volatile Day Just Below $126
- SingTel's Profit Rises 9.2% on Asia Mobile Growth
- IAC, Liberty Media Resolve Dispute Over Spinoffs
- Clear Channel Deal to Be Funded at $36 A Share
- HP, EDS and IBM on the Move
- Fed's Yellen: Interest Rates at Appropriate Level
- Stocks Are Facing Key Test As Investors Seek Stability
- Home Brew for the Car, Not the Beer Cup
- A Wish List for Fixing Wall Street
 |
We talked about every possibility: News Corp. [NWS
Loading...
(%)
] and Microsoft [MSFT
Loading...
(%)
] blending their online businesses with Microsoft relying heavily on the MySpace property; Microsoft joining forces with Time Warner's [TWX
Loading...
(%)
] AOL about some kind of partnership; Microsoft increasing its stake in Facebook or buying the company outright.
Now there's word that, wait for it; wait for it, Microsoft's bankers have "been in touch" with Facebook, or "contacted" Facebook, or thought about Facebook, or logged on to Facebook, and the wires are going crazy with what may or may not happen next.
I suppose it would be newsier if Microsoft decided NOT to contact Facebook. The story is on the Wall Street Journal's web site. It indicates that there are "no active discussions" between the two, that Microsoft put out "subtle" signals to Facebook to see if the company would be interested in a complete buy-out--which would build on the tiny equity investment Microsoft made in Facebook last year.
That $240 million stake in Facebook ascribed a $15 billion value to the social networking powerhouse.
But with no active discussions, and no comment from reps at either company, is there a "there" here? Nah. Or at least not yet.
related content |
Microsoft is sniffing around for an internet strategy, and while publicly, Microsoft executives--including Bill Gates himself--say they want to grow the company's online business organically, it stands to reason that Microsoft wants to talk to lots of potential partners.
As for me, I'm just working the phones trying to nail down who's returning those Microsoft calls; and what a potential deal with someone might really look like. Talk is cheap. As we learned from Yahoo [YHOO
Loading...
(%)
] , the news gets interesting when the offer is put in writing.
Questions? Comments?
Del.icio.us
Digg It
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes