Ballmer rules out internet spending spree

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 20 Jun 2008 at 10:08

Steve Ballmer has ruled out a slew of internet acquisitions, despite holding a $47 billion war chest following the failure of its bid for Yahoo.

Speculation has emerged that Microsoft could try to buy Facebook, in which it already owns a small stake, the AOL division of Time Warner and a slew of smaller concerns.

But Ballmer bluntly refuted the rumours: "People don't understand what they're talking about," he told The Financial Times. "At the end of the day, this is about the ad platform. This is not about just any one of the applications."

Microsoft abandoned a $47.5 billion offer to buy Yahoo last month, but has more recently discussed a deal to take a 16% stake in Yahoo and buy its search business for $9 billion as part of its effort to establish a stronger foothold in online advertising.

This deal was struck a blow when Yahoo announced its deal with Google to serve the latter's ads alongside Yahoo search results. Though the deal may still be hindered by antitrust investigations in the US.