Microsoft’s long-rumored investment in Facebook has finally come to pass, but the software company will end up with a smaller stake in the social network than some observers had predicted.
According to CNET News, Microsoft will take a $240-million equity stake in Facebook, good for 1.6 percent of the social network. Microsoft had attempted to buy a 5-percent stake in the site, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.
The software company reportedly bested Google in a bidding war, so Microsoft officials likely view the deal as a significant victory in their battle for IT supremacy. But the big winner might be Facebook itself: Whether Microsoft overpaid or not, the transaction sets the social network’s value at a whopping $15-billion. —Brock Read
