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[gamechanger87]

So Bill Gates says that he will support the CEO in whatever he may/may not want to do and this is news?

If Sataya says it then get back to me, but otherwise this is nothing.

 

[ProfessorX]

Is this a PR trial Baloon?

With Sony in such bad shape financially, and Xbox potentially for sale... What is going to happen to home console gaming?

 

[nynt9]

Selling isn't the same as spinning-off. In the latter, they'd still control it and reap the profits (and suffer the losses), but they'd be given more autonomy within the company.

But the real point here is that Bill Gates isn't going to publicly say "Man, fuck what Nadella wants, I have my own ideas."

If he thought opposite of what Nadella thought, he would just not say anything. The fact that he's saying something at all means something.

Is this a PR trial Baloon?

With Sony in such bad shape financially, and Xbox potentially for sale... What is going to happen to home console gaming?

Nintendo master race.

 

[Chobel]

But he probably won't, not any time soon anyway.

 

[Graphics Horse]

also, why that girl put warren buffett in that tweet?

It's from the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting, run by Buffett and apparently Gates is on the board.

 

[Netherscourge]

...do you not get that this is a tweet reporting something from an interview and not Bill Gates tweeting himself

I was being facetious.

However, Gates wouldn't have made such a statement knowing it would instantly light a forest fire... unless he WANTED it to light a forest fire.

 

[Guevara]

(Rampant Speculation)

Xbox is missing all their internal numbers, they did everything they reasonable could in March and it didn't work. Gates is giving his bro Nadella some cover to do the right thing. Expect some movement soon.

 

[RE_Player]

Bill was at the company in a bigger capacity when the Xbox was still a struggling brand. With the success it has garnered they wouldn't sell of "spin off" Xbox.

 

[ArchedThunder]

Why do people think this? What do they find wrong with Microsoft? Honest question, I'm curious about it

The suits.

 

[Pathos]

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/...cial-media-stocks-ipos/?cmpid=cmty_twitter_fb

Question is at the 25 minute mark

Okay that clears it up

 

[Gorillaz]

I'd have to see the exact quote and leading question to know how to interpret his answer.

It did give us this gem.
https://twitter.com/PS4hater/status/463358847680135168

(look at his main profile).

For someone so into news I"m surprised he passed up NPD

 

[benny_a]

yo billy 2spin or not 2spin is the Q, I'm down wit da shit!

 

[Mandoric]

Need a lot more context. Could be a trial balloon out of nowhere, more likely a "I'm so confident in Nadella, I'd back him canning my pet project" comment.

 

[Dragon]

I'd have to see the exact quote and leading question to know how to interpret his answer.

It did give us this gem.
https://twitter.com/PS4hater/status/463358847680135168

(look at his main profile).

That guy is mentally ill.

Why do people think this? What do they find wrong with Microsoft? Honest question, I'm curious about it

Have you been asleep for the last year?

 

[gamechanger87]

Gates, the founder and former CEO of Microsoft, said he’s been helping new CEO Satya Nadella transition into his new leadership role and that he would support Nadella if the new CEO proposed a spinoff of one of Microsoft’s units.

But Gates said he didn’t foresee either Bing, the company’s search engine division, or Xbox, its gaming division, as potential stand-alone companies because they are part of Microsoft’s long-term strategy.

Full context.

 

[FairXchange]

The Xbox brand is still a popular consumer platform of MS. Unless they decide that they are over trying to sell consumer technology, and want to focus on services, I don't see how selling Xbox would make any sense to their devices strategy.

 

[Wickerbasket]

Why? XBox is XBox... if MS owns it or some other faceless mega corp, it doesn't change anything. I don't understand why people cling so much to the companies behind the machines?

I think the bigger deal would be that it wouldn't be propped up by Microsoft's huge piles of money any more and would have to stand on it's own as a product. I'm not sure how that would affect Microsoft's usual strategy of buying exclusives and huge marketing pushes.

I really don't see it happening though; I'd be very surprised if Xbox was spun off.

 

[nelsonroyale]

Could potentially be the best thing to ever happen to Xbox, getting out from that Microsoft umbrella.

Well, MS has deep pockets, but they are very anti-consumer in many aspects. I don't see this happening for the moment though.

 

[plainr_]

I wouldn't consider this breaking news as the tweet suggests but why would Gates publicly go on record about this? Somehow I think this move to spin-off the Xbox division is already happening.

 

[Pankratous]

I hope they spin it into the bin.

 

[MasterLeePhD]

Can this be put in the OP please? There are still countless posts after this still saying Microsoft is selling the division and that this is Amazon's opportunity to buy it, even though the meaning of 'spin-off' in the corporate world is just that. Basically, spinning it off into it's own 'mini' company under the Microsoft umbrella.

This is what I was just about to post.

 

[EL CUCO]

Iwata is calling you right now, Nadella.

Pick up that phone.

 

[dLMN8R]

What do you expect Bill Gates to say?

"No! If Nadella wants to spin off Xbox, fuck him!"

???

 

[SpinningBirdKick]

Spinning it off into a separate entity to let it wither and die without adversely affecting the Microsoft share price.

That's the real agenda here.

Gates knows that the division is under performing and will be a drag on Microsoft's financials going forward.

It looks like things are much bleaker for the Xbox division than people previously thought...

 

[Ken Masters]

Look at much money MS makes, Xbox is essentially a wast of time and resources with how little it returns for them

 

[Ricerocket]

That's a rather specific example of him saying how he will support Nadella. It has to be a topic within MS currently and seems to come up for awhile now.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

The fact that he said that means something is up.

.

This. Even if Nadella has no intention of doing it at present, making a statement like this publicially means that Gates sees the tides turning against the brand, at least internally.

As for this "he doesnt want to undermine the CEO" Nonsense, there is a hundred ways he could of said "that's nadellas decision" he specifically said that he would be "all for" a spin off. Its a lot more committed to the idea that its serious option Microsoft are looking at.

I think its more likely it's being spun off into its own brand than being sold however. I actually think it would be a good thing because the company would be gaming focused rather than revenue focused. Its big enough that it needs to stop being a drain on the mother ships finances.

 

[Garrett 2U]

Didn't Nadella just recently and explicitly state that he was in favor of focusing on it rather than spinning it off?

Yes. And this kills the notion that only Bill Gates wants Xbox at MS.

Didn't he just say that because he thought that's what Gates wanted him to say?

Apparently not, huh?

 

[ironcreed]

And there it is people, nothing to see here.

Indeed. Some context:

But Gates said he didn’t foresee either Bing, the company’s search engine division, or Xbox, its gaming division, as potential stand-alone companies because they are part of Microsoft’s long-term strategy.

 

[SpokkX]

Spin-off doesn't imply or necessitate another company acquiring it.
If it does occur it would probably be more as your latter comment, spinning out the division as an independent company.

This

It just means xbox would operate as a separare ms-owned company. Kind of like sony is doing to its tv business

 

[Dragon]

Look at much money MS makes, Xbox is essentially a wast of time and resources with how little it returns for them

MS isn't that different from AOL, the product they have is basically because people can't get what they're offering elsewhere, but it rarely improves year to year. That's why I think it's smart they're investing on the cloud services side. Way more room for growth.

 

[Interfectum]

Is this a PR trial Baloon?

With Sony in such bad shape financially, and Xbox potentially for sale... What is going to happen to home console gaming?

FireTV, Apple TV, Steam Machines, etc

There won't be a PlayStation 5 or Xbox 4, imo.

 

[jelly]

Xbox has become Windows so do they really need just one box if they can apply the service to many platforms and devices ?

What if they just made/support Windows Machines that play Xbox games. Xbox Video/Music etc. are already ubiquitous. If you can't sell 100 million Xbox game consoles, maybe you can sell to a billion Windows users. Take on Steam and beyond. I know that leads to spec headaches but could be worth more than just console gaming. Maybe they make a Surface tablet, Media PC or whatever rather than Xbox hardware.

 

[Justified]

Wait everyone is saying "No big deal he is supporting the CEO" However in another thread where is was suspected the "incoming" CEO would sell eveyone said "No Way Bill would block it/wouldnt allow it/he wouldnt support that" Some quotes

I really don't see that happening. Even with the new CEO coming in, the entire board of executives is still the same people who made the decision to both restructure Microsoft to focus on devices and services and who also signed off and doubled down on the consumer facing stuff. At the head of the board is still Bill Gates, and even if hes part time he still has the most stock and the most influence.

A CEO really is just the face of a company and while a CEO is powerful, a CEO without his board is powerless and will be sent away.

The most recent rumours suggest that the board are again backing Ballmer and Gates. If that happens, and Ballmer and Gates get re-elected, then I don't think they'll be spinning off the Xbox business anytime soon and Microsoft will continue forward as a devices and services company.

Unfortunately the investors don't feel the same way, they only care about money, for now Ballmer and Gates are the only ones stopping them from ditching Xbox division.

Bill Gates is the richest man in the world. I mean if he wants MS to do something who can really stop him?

And thers more in this thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=659801

So which is it?

 

[Chobel]

Full context.

LOL! That tweet was deceptive as hell then.

 

[TyrantII]

Well it´s a rational consideration for any MS shareholder because of the low profits compared to their other divisions but sad for us. Having him say it will even put more shareholders on that path.

The only bad thing I see would be them not having endless pocketbooks to bail them out of trouble. Then again that's also not a bad thing, since it forces you to compete and make shred business decisions.

Honesty, a Xbox brand more focused on gaming and the gaming industry and less on synergizing with every other MS division with its hand in the process to push their vision isn't a bad thing. It be better for the industry too.

Some of Sony's worst days was when their entertainment and music factions started influencing the hardware decisions. Synergy isn't always a good thing if its not adding value to customers.

 

[Marvel]

It just means xbox would operate as a separare ms-owned company. Kind of like sony is doing to its tv business

Ah I understand now.

 

[maniac-kun]

Wouldnt it be wiser for Microsoft to push Windows as a gaming platform now that SteamOS is a thing?

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

I'd have to see the exact quote and leading question to know how to interpret his answer.

It did give us this gem.
https://twitter.com/PS4hater/status/463358847680135168

(look at his main profile).

Time to visit the misterxmedia live journal lol

 

[sinxtanx]

Full context.

So basically THE EXACT OPPOSITE

 

[Bollocks]

Inb4 Facebox
Oh yeah there I did it

 

[IchigoSharingan]

I assume spinning it off would mean they would no longer be able to hide its losses behind the android patents, so we'd finally have a clear picture of how it's doing - which could well then lead to it being sold if it really is still making a loss as many shareholders believe

spin off is simply pre-sell

 

[Vyse The Legend]

They are definitely either going to sell or spin the division off.

There's no way the Xbox division stays internal, though. The writing is on the wall.

 

[Maxrunner]

If he thought opposite of what Nadella thought, he would just not say anything. The fact that he's saying something at all means something.



Nintendo master race.

Nan, just sell Rare and most importantly its IP's...

 

[pulsemyne]

If Bill says it's okay then that must mean it's being discussed a lot internally.

 

[Rembrandt]

Full context.

This should be added to the OP since people skipped it on the second page, too.

 

[Sydle]

Is this one of those situations where a person was asked a specific hypothetical question and given an answer, but only the answer is posted to make it open for interpretation and have it seem like news?

Seems he's just in support of what Nadella wants to do. Is that news? I think it would be news if Gates said something contradictory or in disagreement.

EDIT: Just saw the original post. I'm a little disgusted how that Fox news lady spun it off just for attention.

 

[TyrantII]

This

It just means xbox would operate as a separare ms-owned company. Kind of like sony is doing to its tv business

Yup. MS would be the largest shareholder in essence and have control over the board.

 

[Chocolate & Vanilla]

Full context.

So basically a journalist pulling half a quote and twisting it to make headlines. Another day at the office.

 

[failgubbe]

Someone update the OP with the full context