Microsoft's dilemma: Invest or acquire?
Perhaps in an effort to lower its profile as it fights off antitrust lawsuits from both the federal government and attorneys general from 20 states, Microsoft seems to be concentrating on strategic investments these days, curbing its acquisition fever of just a few years earlier.
Perhaps in an effort to lower its profile as it fights off antitrust lawsuits from both the federal government and attorneys general from 20 states, Microsoft seems to be concentrating on strategic investments these days, curbing its acquisition fever of just a few years earlier.
| Date | Company | Status |
| 1998 | ||
| Aug. 25 | Valence Research | Acquisition |
| June 29 | OpenPort | Investment |
| June 18 | Pluto Technologies | Investment |
| June 15 | RoadRunner | Investment |
| June 15 | Avid Technology acquires Softimage | Investment |
| June 4 | Tut Systems | Investment |
| May 27 | VenturCom, Inc. | Investment |
| April 28 | The MESA Group | Acquisition |
| April 27 | Reservation Works LLC | Investment |
| April 9 | Firefly Network | Acquisition |
| March 23 | ioptics | Investment |
| March 3 | General Magic | Investment |
| Feb. 23 | Flash Communications | Acquisition |
| Feb. 17 | SaveSmart | Investment |
| Jan. 12 | ShareWave | Investment |
| 1997 | ||
| Dec.31 | Hotmail | Acquisition |
| Dec. 9 | Elemental Software Inc. | Investment |
| Dec. 9 | Digital Sound Corporation | Investment |
| Oct. 20 | Wildfire Communications | Investment |
| Sept. 22 | E-Stamp Corporation | Investment |
| Sept. 11 | Lernout & Hauspie | Investment |
| Sept. 9 | TRADOS | Investment |
| Aug. 25 | eFusion | Investment |
| Aug. 6 | Apple Computer | Investment |
| Aug. 5 | VXtreme | Acquisition |
| July 29 | Navitel | Investment |
| July 21 | RealNetworks | Investment |
| June 30 | LinkAge Software | Acquisition |
| June 26 | First Data | Investment |
| June 13 | Cooper & Peters | Acquisition |
| June 9 | Comcast | Investment |
| May 7 | Dimension X | Acquisition |
| April 6 | WebTV Networks | Acquisition |
| March 3 | Inters? | Acquisition |
| Feb. 19 | Digital Anvil | Investment |
| 1996 | ||
| Dec. 17 | Proginet | Investment |
| Dec. 10 | NetCarta | Acquisition |
| Dec. 10 | CMG | Investment |
| Dec. 6 | Verisign | Investment |
| Nov. 20 | ResNova Software | Acquisition |
| Oct. 29 | OLAP technology from Panorama Software | Acquisition |
| Oct. 28 | VDOnet | Investment |
| Sept. 30 | WebTV | Investment |
| Sept. 9 | SingleTrac Entertainment Technologies | Investment |
| June 24 | Entex | Investment |
| June 17 | Electric Gravity Inc. | Acquisition |
| June 11 | eShop Inc. | Acquisition |
| May 7 | Tandem | Investment |
| April 15 | EXOS Inc. | Acquisition |
| April 9 | Helicon Publishing Limited | Investment |
| April 8 | aha! software | Acquisition |
| March 12 | Colusa and Aspect | Acquisition |
| Feb. 1 | Black Entertainment Television | Investment |
| Jan. 16 | Vermeer Technologies Inc. | Acquisition |
| 1995 | ||
| Dec. 14 | NBC | Investment |
| Dec. 12 | Bruce Artwick Organization Ltd. | Acquisition |
| Nov. 6 | Interoperability Technology, Expertise from Netwise Inc. | Acquisition |
| Oct. 16 | The Blue Ribbon SoundWorks, Ltd. | Acquisition |
| Oct. 11 | Individual Inc. | Investment |
| Aug. 2 | Digital | Investment |
| July 31 | Dare to Dream Intertainment | Acquisition |
| July 10 | SNMP Technology From Network Managers | Acquisition |
| April 12 | Wang | Investment |
| March 22 | DreamWorks SKG | Investment |
| March 20 | Vanstar | Investment |
| Feb. 23 | RenderMorphics, Ltd. | Acquisition |
| Jan. 13 | UUNET | Investment |
| 1994 | ||
| Dec. 21 | TCI Technology Ventures | Investment |
| Nov. 15 | One Tree Software | Acquisition |
| Nov. 1 | NextBase | Acquisition |
| Sept. 27 | Altamira | Acquisition |
| June 28 | SOFTIMAGE | Acquisition |
| Source: Microsoft | ||