Microsoft has been all over the map as far as acquisitions go; rumors have been circulating they were even thinking of purchasing Yahoo. Their latest? Skype.
CEO Tony Bates of Skype went viral last night, “delighted” to announce the inclusion of Skype in their company. In a video he said, “[j]oining forces with Microsoft is the best way to accelerate this mission and capitalize on our position at the intersection of social, mobile, and video communications. Simply put, we want to transform communications. We will do this by building the best products in the world that allow all of us to do things together whenever we’re apart and by creating teams who work faster and smarter across the globe building those world-class products.”
Though it was announced back in June that Microsoft had made the purchase (an $8.5 billion cash deal), three months later it now been made official after the European Union’s approval.
Bates will now become president of the new division, working directly with Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO. They plan on hiring an “outstanding senior management team” to develop new products and strategic acquisitions. Expect Skype to be integrated into many of Microsoft’s current and future products such as Kinect.
Bates emphasized his goal of reaching 1 billion users daily in his statement, and with this dynamic duo this can be expected. Future plans for the merge include his visionary of the world in a few years that is “one of complete, pervasive video communications, something that’s across all parts of your life.”
(via PC Mag)
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