The big picture: Microsoft has managed to largely avoid the sort of scrutiny that other tech giants like Facebook and T-Mobile have faced in recent years. With a new administration in place, however, it could be trickier for big tech companies to pull off major deals like this.
Microsoft reportedly approached social media company Pinterest in recent months regarding an acquisition.
One person briefed on the matter told The Financial Times that the two sides currently aren’t engaged in active discussions.
Even if it doesn’t happen, the possibility of a deal is interesting to think about. Microsoft has quietly amassed an impressive portfolio of companies and assets in recent years including Minecraft maker Mojang, LinkedIn, GitHub and ZeniMax.
Microsoft even attempted to purchase TikTok last year, first alone then alongside Walmart, but neither avenue panned out.
It’s unclear what led to talks stalling with Pinterest but we know that Microsoft certainly has the financial ability to close a deal. As of writing, the company has a market cap of $1.84 trillion compared to Pinterest’s $53.35 billion.
Scooping up Pinterest would give Microsoft access to even more customer data, and the company could move the service to its Azure cloud platform (it currently runs on rival Amazon Web Services).
Share value in Pinterest is up more than five percent on the day.
Image credit Ink Drop, Aldeca studio
https://www.techspot.com/news/88604-microsoft-tried-buy-pinterest-recent-months.html
