People who keep up with tech news have probably noticed that Google makes acquisitions on a regular basis. Meanwhile, reports concerning Microsoft buys are rare. But that isn’t necessarily a sign of some media bias; Microsoft confirmed today that the companies it sold in the past year were worth more than the companies it acquired.
Microsoft filed its Form 10-K report with the SEC this morning, and about two-thirds of the way through, shared that interesting fact. A big hat tip goes to Todd Bishop for spotting it.
Specifically, Microsoft stated, "During fiscal year 2010, we acquired five entities for total consideration of $267 million, substantially all of which was paid in cash."
Then the company finished, "During this period, we also sold three entities for total consideration of $600 million, including Razorfish in the second quarter of fiscal year 2010."
That speaks to a very different approach to doing business than the one that’s helped make Google successful. Although we should note this one is arguably working all right for Microsoft, considering the record quarter it reported earlier this month.
This could be a "to each his own" scenario, then. Or not. That’s because, unfortunately for Microsoft, its stock has fallen 0.88 percent today (which is more than both the Dow and Nasdaq), while Google’s stock has risen 0.27 percent.
