5 ms·

Why Microsoft though, is there other company competing for the deal?

killjoywashere 6y ago
I kind of wonder about this. The US Government pours money on Microsoft. The number of Windows servers in government reels the mind, and of course every desktop is Windows, with Office. They previously acquired LinkedIn, which is where a huge number of US citizens, and particularly military folks, park their resumes and roledexes. The LinkedIn social graph essentially subtracts children and stay-at-home spouses, making it somewhat denser with the type of information a foreign government might be interested in. Similarly, GitHub is of huge US national, probably Western strategic interest. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if some folks at Microsoft were "encouraged" to pursue those deals to keep them out of other hands.
- scarface74 6y ago
  Who else? The President doesn’t like Facebook or Twitter anymore because they are both mean to him. This is the first step of what many on HN have been wanting - for the government to be more heavy handed toward tech. To everyone’s surprise, politicians are corrupt and self serving.
- marmaduke 6y ago
  > The LinkedIn social graph essentially subtracts children and stay-at-home spouses What does subtract here mean?
  - pluc 6y ago
    The same thing it means everywhere else - it's a social network _minus_ kids and housewives.
    - ethbro 6y ago
      (Also househusbands)
  - Mountain_Skies 6y ago
    LinkedIn recently tried to get me to connect to a high school girl. This wasn't a case of a minor lying to get access to a service, her profile clearly stated that she's still in high school. Note that this wasn't her trying to connect with me, it was LinkedIn's algorithm suggesting it. My take away is that there are minors on the system and the system isn't doing much to protect them. There was nothing in her work experience that overlaps with my career or interests and we had no connections in common. Seems very odd that LinkedIn would suggest this connection.
  - killjoywashere 6y ago
    LinkedIn ~= Facebook - (children + stay-at-home spouses)
- __s 6y ago
  Also JEDI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Enterprise_Defense_Infrastructure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Enterprise_Defense_Infra...
sct202 6y ago
Microsoft also has substantial Chinese operations (compared to other tech giants), so the Chinese government may have a preference to pressure Bytedance to sell to a relatively friendly company.
- sidibe 6y ago
  According to Congress last week Google and China are very very friendly.
meragrin_ 6y ago
Who else would/could buy it? I don't see Facebook or Google getting government approval. It doesn't seem like anything useful to Apple or Amazon.
- jahlove 6y ago
  Also, the privacy nightmare that is TikTok would be very off-brand for Apple.
nemothekid 6y ago
>Why Microsoft though, is there other company competing for the deal? The only other companies, in tech, that could offer to pay 100B: AAPL, MSFT, FB, AMZN, GOOG. Once you exit FAAMG, the next largest company is Berkshire Hathaway with a 500B valuation. I don't see Buffet paying 1/5th of his own company for TikTok. Among FAAMG, the other 4 just got grilled by Congress over Antitrust. FB & GOOG would likely never get approved it. I don't see AAPL owning a social network, given the privacy concerns around it. That leaves AMZN, who has Twitch as a "sister" platform. However I don't see Bezos getting away with acquiring a high profile company like TikTok, as he's currently enemy #1. That leaves MSFT who has been trying to get into social media but has kept failing (most recent of which was Mixer, which pretty much funneled millions into top streamers for nothing).

I kind of wonder about this. The US Government pours money on Microsoft. The number of Windows servers in government reels the mind, and of course every desktop is Windows, with Office. They previously acquired LinkedIn, which is where a huge number of US citizens, and particularly military folks, park their resumes and roledexes. The LinkedIn social graph essentially subtracts children and stay-at-home spouses, making it somewhat denser with the type of information a foreign government might be interested in. Similarly, GitHub is of huge US national, probably Western strategic interest. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if some folks at Microsoft were "encouraged" to pursue those deals to keep them out of other hands.

scarface74 6y ago
Who else? The President doesn’t like Facebook or Twitter anymore because they are both mean to him. This is the first step of what many on HN have been wanting - for the government to be more heavy handed toward tech. To everyone’s surprise, politicians are corrupt and self serving.
marmaduke 6y ago
> The LinkedIn social graph essentially subtracts children and stay-at-home spouses What does subtract here mean?
- pluc 6y ago
  The same thing it means everywhere else - it's a social network _minus_ kids and housewives.
  - ethbro 6y ago
    (Also househusbands)
- Mountain_Skies 6y ago
  LinkedIn recently tried to get me to connect to a high school girl. This wasn't a case of a minor lying to get access to a service, her profile clearly stated that she's still in high school. Note that this wasn't her trying to connect with me, it was LinkedIn's algorithm suggesting it. My take away is that there are minors on the system and the system isn't doing much to protect them. There was nothing in her work experience that overlaps with my career or interests and we had no connections in common. Seems very odd that LinkedIn would suggest this connection.
- killjoywashere 6y ago
  LinkedIn ~= Facebook - (children + stay-at-home spouses)
__s 6y ago
Also JEDI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Enterprise_Defense_Infrastructure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Enterprise_Defense_Infra...

sct202 6y ago

Microsoft also has substantial Chinese operations (compared to other tech giants), so the Chinese government may have a preference to pressure Bytedance to sell to a relatively friendly company.

sidibe 6y ago
According to Congress last week Google and China are very very friendly.

meragrin_ 6y ago

Who else would/could buy it? I don't see Facebook or Google getting government approval. It doesn't seem like anything useful to Apple or Amazon.

jahlove 6y ago
Also, the privacy nightmare that is TikTok would be very off-brand for Apple.

nemothekid 6y ago

>Why Microsoft though, is there other company competing for the deal? The only other companies, in tech, that could offer to pay 100B: AAPL, MSFT, FB, AMZN, GOOG. Once you exit FAAMG, the next largest company is Berkshire Hathaway with a 500B valuation. I don't see Buffet paying 1/5th of his own company for TikTok. Among FAAMG, the other 4 just got grilled by Congress over Antitrust. FB & GOOG would likely never get approved it. I don't see AAPL owning a social network, given the privacy concerns around it. That leaves AMZN, who has Twitch as a "sister" platform. However I don't see Bezos getting away with acquiring a high profile company like TikTok, as he's currently enemy #1. That leaves MSFT who has been trying to get into social media but has kept failing (most recent of which was Mixer, which pretty much funneled millions into top streamers for nothing).