Latest in microsoft

Microsoft’s proposed $69B acquisition of Activision could bring harm to the UK’s 45M-strong gaming community, the nation’s competition body has ruled. In a provisional finding delivered in the past hour, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that Microsoft “buying one of the world's…

Microsoft said today it plans to lay off 10,000 employees to "align our cost structure with our revenue and where we see customer demand." "We are making changes that will result in the reduction of our overall workforce by 10,000 jobs through the end of FY23 Q3. This represents less than 5 percent…

Brad Smith, Microsoft's vice chair and president, and Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick both said they’re confident their $69 billion merger will close, despite news that the antitrust-buster FTC plans to challenge it in court. “This sounds alarming, so I want to reinforce my confidence that this…

Paul Allen's extraordinary art collection is set to be sold off at what will be the largest auction of its kind in history. The late Microsoft co-founder died in 2018, leaving a collection worth an estimated $1billion, comprising 150 works including masterpieces by Monet, Renoir, David Hockney and…

The economics of Netflix’s forthcoming ad-supported tier will be more favorable than those of its primary ad-free one, one senior executive indicated during the company’s second-quarter earnings interview. Greg Peters, the company’s head of product and chief operating officer, offered detailed commentary about the…

Netflix revealed today that's it's teaming up with Microsoft to launch its new advertising-supported subscription plan. "In April we announced that we will introduce a new lower priced ad-supported subscription plan for consumers, in addition to our existing ads-free basic, standard, and premium plans. Today we are…

Media and telecom M&A activity was lively in the first half of 2022 with deals for the 12 months ending May 15 totaling 1,014, up 28% year-on-year, with a record total value $469 billion. The tally was inflated by Elon Musk's high-profile $44 billion bid for Twitter and Microsoft's planned $68 billion acquisition of…

Shareholders of video game giant Activision Blizzard have voted in favor of a plan for an annual report on the company's efforts to curb workplace abuse and harassment. The maker of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft had recommended a "no" vote on the proposal, which would require disclosures of the amounts paid to…

Microsoft has officially stopped supporting its Explorer web browser, a key tool in its rise to tech-industry dominance in the early Internet era but also a key element in the government’s landmark antitrust case against the software firm. The company signaled a year ago that it would start sending users to its Edge…

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and Microsoft chief Satya Nadella were skedded to join 2,500 politicians, business and nonprofit leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week as the annual gathering kneecapped by Covid is back in person. It reconvenes, a bit subdued, at a critical moment with the…

Activision Blizzard said Tuesday a federal court will approve its $18 million settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over a lawsuit charging sexual harassment and retaliation. The EEOC filed its case last September, following a separate suit by California's Department of Fair Employment and…

The U.S. government wants a word with Barry Diller, David Geffen and a third man involving the planned $68.7 billion merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. Federal securities regulators and prosecutors are investigating options trades made by longtime Hollywood players Diller and Geffen and Diller’s stepson…