Comments on: Could Anyone Buy Google?

By: Hal

Hal — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 07:56:01 +0000

Acquisition or not, the one thing we can count on are the big guys never innovate. It seems like once a tech company grows above 5,000 people or so, it just can’t build new products anymore.
We just have to hope a search startup comes around (much like Goog did in 1999) and shakes this market up.
I personally think ManagedQ has a pretty good shot. They’ve got a really interesting search solution that combines NLP with a cool user interface. Give it a whirl.

Search Google takeover possibility

By: MICHAEL J. SCHMITZ

MICHAEL J. SCHMITZ — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:50:51 +0000

WHO’D WANT TO BUY IT?

By: E Guy

E Guy — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:20:45 +0000

My point is that acquisitions of this magnitude are generally about egos and who has the biggest uh hmm…you know. Very few large scale acquisitions ever make sense…and it is all about who has or has access to the capital to make it happen creating a “disneyland” rationale along the way to justify the purchase.

In the end, the capital for these acquisitions can and should be used to create sustaining organizations with strategic insight and thought…instead of paying lawyers and investment bankers to fulfill the egotistical interests of the key players.

By: ¿Puede comprar alguien Google?

¿Puede comprar alguien Google? — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:04:29 +0000

[...] aunque esta vez más ciertas, sobre la firme decisión de Microsoft por comprar Yahoo, veo que Mark Evans se pregunta si alguien es capaz de comprar Google. ¿Está Google en el [...]

By: Could Anyone Buy Google? at Conceptualist.com, By Sahar Sarid

Could Anyone Buy Google? at Conceptualist.com, By Sahar Sarid — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:10:19 +0000

[...] Source: Mark Evans [...]

By: Mark Evans

Mark Evans — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:54:55 +0000

E Guy: I’m not sure a MSFT-Google makes sense or not. It was an example of who could, in theory, take a run at Google. As Jesse notes, Berkshire Hathaway could do it, and I suspect there are hedge funds and LBO experts who might be able to pull it off but the pool of potential buyers is pretty small - if it exists at all.

By: Jesse Hirsh

Jesse Hirsh — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:01:47 +0000

Technically, I’d imagine Berkshire Hathaway would be able to buy Google. Although it would never happen given the close ties between the Oracle of Omaha and Geeky Gates.

By: E Guy

E Guy — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:44:11 +0000

Interesting that you mention a Time Warner - AOL kind of deal in reference in a possible takeover of Google by Microsoft in 5 years. The TW-AOL deal was an unalterated disaster from a business perspective and reflective of egos out of control with a poor business rationale for the transaction. If you actually think that a Microsoft Google deal makes sense, I would suggest another example…not that there is one readily apparent.

By: Tuna

Tuna — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:31:21 +0000

The short answer is no, and it has nothing to do with price.

Google has some very “interesting” clauses in it’s charter. Most importantly, certain shares have 10x the voting power than all the other shares, and those certain shares are owned by key people. No matter how much money you spend, you cannot buy enough of google to be able to vote the founders down.

As a corollary, google is actually not in any way obligated to pay it’s shareholders anything. Ever. It might, but it is all up to the will of the board. Which is guaranteed not to be changed, because the board has all the voting power.