Last week, Microsoft announced plans to loan $2 billion to Dell, which is trying to take itself private in a $24 billion buyout.?
It?s a pretty surprising move because it looks like Microsoft is playing favorites with one of its PC partners. However, Microsoft hasn?t been shy about making investments, or big partnerships in the past.
Since Microsoft has been a fairly active investor through the years, here?s a look back how good it is at picking winners and losers when it comes to investments and partnerships.
A $221 million joint venture with NBC created MSNBC, but it turned out that content wasn?t king.
Date: December 1995
Details: $221 million for 50% stake in MSNTV
Reason: Microsoft thought it needed partners in the traditional media business to help build attractive online services. Microsoft also invested in other content companies around the same time, including Dreamworks SKG and Black Entertainment Television.
Outcome: Fair. MSNTV is still around, and Microsoft has managed to build a high-traffic (if money-losing) network of Web sites, but it turns out that big content didn?t end up ruling the Internet ? technology like search and social networking, and upstart do-it-yourself content like blogging and YouTube turned out to be mch more influential.
Microsoft sold its stake in MSNTV to Comcast and MSN last decade.
WebTV was one of Microsoft?s many failed efforts to conquer the living room.
Date: September 1996
Details: Microsoft took a ?minority equity position,? but didn?t disclose the investment amount.
Reason: To encourage the idea of delivering the Internet over TV, and to get WebTV to incorporate Internet Explorer.
Outcome: Bad. Seven months later, Microsoft bought the company for $425 million. It turned into Microsoft?s first of many failed experiments in interactive TV.
Taking a $30 million stake in RealNetworks didn?t prevent the two companies from becoming arch-enemies.
Date: July 1997
Amount: $30 million for a 10% stake (the company was then called Progressive Networks)
Reason: RealNetworks was founded by an early Microsoft executive, Rob Glaser, in 1995, and pioneered the delivery of streaming audio and video over the Internet. The companies were supposed to work together to define industry standards.
Outcome: Bad. The relationship quickly soured as Microsoft moved into direct competition with RealNetworks. Glaser testified in the Microsoft antitrust trial in 1998, and Microsoft sold its stake soon after that. RealNetworks later sued Microsoft for antitrust, and Microsoft settled with a $761 million payout.
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See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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[Re-blogged from Since Microsoft Is Giving Dell $2 Billion, Let's Take A Look At Its Bad History Of Investing (MSFT) - All content ownership belongs to them, I am simply sharing it with you.]
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