Bill Gates

Well, sort of. I mean, Nokia basically had Symbian as its OS. They tried to start another OS because Symbian was sort of reaching the end of its life. That wasn't going well. And so they were kind of left without a platform. And so they either needed to pick Windows Phone or Android as their platform of the future, despite being what used to be the dominant phone maker for all cell phones.

Well, sort of. I mean, Nokia basically had Symbian as its OS. They tried to start another OS because Symbian was sort of reaching the end of its life. That wasn't going well. And so they were kind of left without a platform. And so they either needed to pick Windows Phone or Android as their platform of the future, despite being what used to be the dominant phone maker for all cell phones.

That is actually the right way to think about it. We've been joking about it's only money. But honestly, what was Microsoft's market cap at this time?

That is actually the right way to think about it. We've been joking about it's only money. But honestly, what was Microsoft's market cap at this time?

And what was the forthcoming acquisition offer for Nokia?

And what was the forthcoming acquisition offer for Nokia?

So that is 2.3% of the company. You're willing to give up 2.3% of your company for some particular bet. I actually think that's a very reasonable way to think about this, Aquantive, Skype, which we didn't talk about, which actually was a pretty good deal, especially because of the tax treatment, Yahoo, Facebook. You should think of these things as a percentage of market cap.

So that is 2.3% of the company. You're willing to give up 2.3% of your company for some particular bet. I actually think that's a very reasonable way to think about this, Aquantive, Skype, which we didn't talk about, which actually was a pretty good deal, especially because of the tax treatment, Yahoo, Facebook. You should think of these things as a percentage of market cap.

And sometimes things could go really, really right

And sometimes things could go really, really right

But your cash is valued as a part of your market cap.

But your cash is valued as a part of your market cap.

It's funny, I delivered you a technically correct answer and you delivered me back a very pragmatic one. Yes, right, right. Which is, that's not accruing to your market cap anyway, so you may as well spend it.

It's funny, I delivered you a technically correct answer and you delivered me back a very pragmatic one. Yes, right, right. Which is, that's not accruing to your market cap anyway, so you may as well spend it.

When it doesn't cost you focus or your best people or whatever the scarce resources are and it only costs you cash, then you should totally think about it as, am I willing to bet 2.3% of my company or whatever percent of the cash that I'm not getting any credit for if something could go really right? It's a venture capital bet, you know?

When it doesn't cost you focus or your best people or whatever the scarce resources are and it only costs you cash, then you should totally think about it as, am I willing to bet 2.3% of my company or whatever percent of the cash that I'm not getting any credit for if something could go really right? It's a venture capital bet, you know?

Right, there's actual downside to it also.

Right, there's actual downside to it also.

And so my understanding of the timeline is there's a $7.5 billion offer on the table. Steve mulls it over, plays with it, is for it, proposes it to the board. And exactly, the board comes back and says, hey, there's not support for this.

And so my understanding of the timeline is there's a $7.5 billion offer on the table. Steve mulls it over, plays with it, is for it, proposes it to the board. And exactly, the board comes back and says, hey, there's not support for this.