Microsoft is no longer eyeing Slack. The company is abandoning the idea of potentially acquiring it for $8 billion because of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and CEO Satya Nadella.
The two head honchos did not support the notion to have the collaboration tool maker under Microsoft's wing. According to industry sources, Gates instead prefers to improve Skype, adding more features to the video and messaging app.
Slack has more than 2.3 million daily active users, and 675,000 of those are on paid seats. April Underwood, Slack's vice president of product, outlined the company's plans moving forward, including voice and video chat features. With that product road map for 2016 plus the increasing user base, it's clearly pushing its efforts to step into the big leagues of the messaging app scene.
Microsoft executive vice president of applications and services Qi Lu oversaw the intended acquisition, and he drummed up the $8 billion figure. Interestingly, Slack was set with a $2.8 billion value in its funding round of $160 million back in April 2015. TechCrunch also heard that the company is also starting another round that ranges from $150 million to $300 million. Valuations of the fundraiser go for $3.5 billion and $4 billion up to $5 billion.
On that note, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise why there's a mix of naysayers and supporters of the deal at Microsoft.
It should also be mentioned that Microsoft already has Skype, SharePoint, Lync and Yammer to contend in the collaboration tool game. More to the point, Skype has been steadily improving, and it was even integrated with Slack not too long ago.
"At Skype, we are committed to breaking down communication barriers and getting the world talking. This is why we make Skype available on multiple platforms and continue to explore more ways to help you stay connected," Skype said, introducing the preview of the said integration with Slack.
Long story short, plenty of people at Microsoft presumably don't see Slack as a potential company to coordinate with, with the notable examples being Gates and Nadella.
