Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Microsoft and Alibaba in Talks Again: for Future After Yahoo?

In his recent visit to China, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had a meeting with Alibaba Chairman Ma Yun (Jack Ma). The subject of the meeting was not disclosed to the public, but speculators say that the meeting was to discuss the future of Alibaba if Microsoft ends acquiring Yahoo.

Alibaba has an agreement with Yahoo that gives the company the right to buy back its shares if Yahoo is sold to a third party. Since Microsoft still has interest in Yahoo, Alibaba is aligning its interests with its future business partner.

Alibaba and Microsoft have already formed a previous business alliance to promote Microsoft software on its SAAS platform, but it would be interesting to see if both companies are going to be working more closely together.

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