7 bit words

Now that Apple has surpassed Microsoft in terms of Market Cap, I’m starting to read how “Microsoft saved Apple” back in the day when they invested $150M in Apple (1997).

Give me a break.  That’s not what I remember.

I remember Microsoft hiring the same people that worked on quicktime.. and somehow ending up with Apple’s source code in their player.   I remember them settling patent disputes and forging a reasonable tit (office on time for the mac) for tat (MS Explorer browser default on mac).

Put simply, I remember Microsoft pushing Apple around until Jobs returned and promptly pushed back.

Apple had over $1B in cash at the time:

Their revenue was falling to a low of $6B:

They didn’t need cash, they needed a visionary leader and reclaimed one in Steve Jobs.

So here’s a new perspective/meme for you:

Apple tried to give Microsoft $4.7 billion and they declined.  They received 18.2M shares for only $150M ($8.24/share).  Had Microsoft held onto those shares, they’d have an additional 4.7 Billion for their bottom line.