On 2010-06-02 17:12 , John Sessoms wrote:
That was a long time ago. Apple was worth more like a couple billion dollars back then. Apple almost went under.
perhaps true, but Apple had bought NeXT earlier that year, so the Microsoft deal was part of a very shrewd recovery strategy already under way
When Microsoft's investment was announced Apple's stock went up 40% the next day to $19.75. Apple's stock was selling for about $12.00 a share before Microsoft's announcement (compared to the current price of $263.87 at today's close).
Apple's stock has split twice since then, so the comparative value would be four times that
In return, Microsoft got a commitment from Apple to make IE the default web browser on the Mac, which helped Microsoft in their campaign to crush Netscape, and an ally in Apple in their struggle against SUN for control over Java, to insure Java would never be a threat to Windows.
Microsoft also got a release from patent claims, a continued market for one of its more profitable products, and likely some safe haven from antitrust action; it was a very complex deal
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