Yahoo buy not a strategy in itself: Microsoft CEO
Category Microsoft
From Reuter's: Yahoo buy not a strategy in itself: Microsoft CEO
Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Friday that buying Yahoo was not a strategy in itself, and dropping the bid meant it now had $50 billion to spend on other acquisitions.
"Yahoo was never the strategy we were pursuing, it was a way to accelerate our online advertising business," he told a packed hall at a technology conference in Moscow.
"We will spend money on some acquisitions. You can do a whole lot of things with 50 billion dollars," he said.
What the...?
Let me get this straight... Microsoft was willing to burn their cash reserve and go into debt for the first time in its history, to spend nearly $50 *billion* dollars for a non-strategic purchase? $50 *billion* as "a way" to accelerate their online ad business, with no thought to catching up in search? Once you've spent $50 *billion* as "a way" to accelerate, what other options might you have to resort to if that doesn't work? For $50 *billion*, I'd be wanting to make sure it was *THE* way to accelerate just about everything in my company.
It continues to amaze me that they allow Ballmer to speak in public, and that the shareholders of Microsoft haven't gone into full-fledged revolt.
From Reuter's: Yahoo buy not a strategy in itself: Microsoft CEO
Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Friday that buying Yahoo was not a strategy in itself, and dropping the bid meant it now had $50 billion to spend on other acquisitions.
"Yahoo was never the strategy we were pursuing, it was a way to accelerate our online advertising business," he told a packed hall at a technology conference in Moscow.
"We will spend money on some acquisitions. You can do a whole lot of things with 50 billion dollars," he said.
What the...?
Let me get this straight... Microsoft was willing to burn their cash reserve and go into debt for the first time in its history, to spend nearly $50 *billion* dollars for a non-strategic purchase? $50 *billion* as "a way" to accelerate their online ad business, with no thought to catching up in search? Once you've spent $50 *billion* as "a way" to accelerate, what other options might you have to resort to if that doesn't work? For $50 *billion*, I'd be wanting to make sure it was *THE* way to accelerate just about everything in my company.
It continues to amaze me that they allow Ballmer to speak in public, and that the shareholders of Microsoft haven't gone into full-fledged revolt.
| Permalink |
