Microsoft was 'willing' to buy WhatsApp says Bill Gates

Microsoft was “willing” to buy WhatsApp, Bill Gates has told Rolling Stone. The magazine's interview with Gates ranges widely, revealing his recent dinner with Charles Koch and their discussion about climate change (the problem is urgent, action is needed but the US can't be expected to lead and renewable energy has big …

[oldtaku]

Sure, and I'm certainly 'willing' to sleep with Alison Brie and Kerry Washington.

[Lord Lien]

Dam.....

..... I'm showing my age as I had to Google both of them. Kathy Lloyd & Maria Whitaker when I were a wee lad what now seems like centuries ago!

[Anonymous Coward]

But they bought Skype and pretty much killed that off.

[Shonko Kid]

Has Bill gone senile?

“Microsoft was willing to buy it, too,”

Why? What for? it's just a moderately popular messaging system, Microsoft have had about a dozen of those. Could they not find someone in their 100 000 strong workforce to work out why it was popular and MSN messenger wasn't? Really?!?

I'll give them a hint - iPhone.

“I don't know if it was for $19 billion, but the company's extremely valuable.”

No, no it's not. It was extremely expensive for Facebook, but Zuck's got way more money than sense, that doesn't make it valuable.

If Microsoft tried really hard, they could roll their own WhatsApp a thousand times over, and probably make it better, and afford to run it at a loss so that it was free for ever, and hook it into Live, but that would require the guy at the top having some sense of vision for a product, or someone in their organisation not being a cow-towing yes-man lacky sucking up to their immediate boss. Oh well.

[HollyHopDrive]

Re: Has Bill gone senile?

@shonko Kid

The biig hurdle that MS just seems unable to contemplate is making ALL their (end user) products multi-platform and (important this) no less functionally rich if not working on a windows platform. (i.e. an Ipad, mac etc).

And once they accept things have changed and concentrate on good, clean functional products not platform tied products they can once more be a modern and more successful business. That 90's practice needs leaving behind to achieve it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Has Bill gone senile?

Just like apple software works on all platforms

[Colin Ritchie]

Re: Has Bill gone senile?

I think you mean kowtowing not towing a cow, but I can see how this could be confused when M$ is involved.

[hplasm]

“When you have a lot of money, it allows you to go down a lot of dead ends,”

TIKFKAM

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft was willing to buy WhatsApp?

Did Microsoft actually put in a bid for WhatsApp or is this merely retrospective wishfull thinking by his billness ..

[Anonymous Coward]

"Asked about Edward Snowden, ...I certainly wouldn't characterize him as a hero”

Exactly! How could Gates see him as anything except corporate disruption. After all he exposed the company's complicity is US-NSA Spying! And that will ultimately put a dent in the bottom line for US CloudFog businesses!