Bigger than Nokia and Minecraft, smaller than LinkedIn and Skype. And nowhere near Yahoo, but that doesn’t count because it wasn’t completed.
That is how Microsoft’s agreement to acquire GitHub for $7.5 billion fits into the Redmond tech giant’s history of acquisitions, as reflected in our ranking above. Assuming it goes through, the deal would be the third-largest in Microsoft’s history, behind its $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn and $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype. (Microsoft’s ill-fated 2008 bid for Yahoo was more than $44 billion.)
Unlike LinkedIn and Skype, which were all-cash deals, Microsoft is funding the acquisition of GitHub entirely with stock, taking advantage of the run-up in its share price. Microsoft stock topped $100/share last Friday and closed today at $101.67, another new all-time high, following the announcement of the GitHub deal.
