Microsoft has had yet another big spending period, having acquired twenty startups for a combined total of more than $9 billion in its 2019 fiscal year, which concluded at the end of June. That makes this Microsoft’s third priciest acquisition year to date, according to statistics from GeekWire.
Of this year’s acquisitions, GitHub takes the largest slice out of Microsoft’s total spending for these companies, costing it as much as $7.5 billion or 82 percent of its overall volume. By contrast, the remaining $1.6 billion went to nineteen other organizations that focus on areas primarily in artificial indigence, Internet of Things, and education. The tech giant also acquired a few game development companies to expand its set for Xbox Game Studios.
Microsoft’s largest spending year to date was in 2017, when it acquired LinkedIn for a whopping $26.2 billion. The company hasn’t disclosed its spending on other acquisitions in that period, but the LinkedIn acquisition alone as more than the combined total number acquisitions on any of the company’s other fiscal years.
Microsoft has also made numerous other big-name acquisitions with the lead of the current CEO since 2014, Satya Nadella. These include Nokia which was acquired for $7.2 billion in the company’s 2015 fiscal year, and the Minecraft development company Mojang for $2.5 billion the previous year.
What do you think about Microsoft’s acquisition strategies so far? Share your thoughts in the comments area below.
