Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Acquisitions

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

As this story reports, "Microsoft now officially closes its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard." I haven't really covered this because its's peripheral to online learning, but the trend of 'innovation by acquisition' is worth noting. We've certainly seen its impact in ed-tech. From where I sit, it's troubling, because an acquisition essentially converts an asset (say, a $69 billion company) to a liability ($69 billion worth of debt) which must now be recovered through reduced services and increased prices. And of course there is the issue of the concentration of wealth and ownership. "Where does this end?" asks Wouter Groeneveld, "When one of those companies owns everything?"

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Nov 21, 2024 10:05 a.m.

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