the chart, acquisitions, deals, microsoft, top, yahoo

The 15 biggest tech acquisitions since 1998

So Microsoft buying Yahoo for $44.6 billion is a big deal. No, it's a massive deal. Before Microsoft's share price dropped, it was to be the second-largest tech deal made in the past decade after AOL/Time Warner. Even more impressive? Like the AOL deal, this is a merger you can explain to your mom. Most people have never heard of the big tech companies. Hell, I've never heard of some of them. SDL? JDS Uniphase? Veritas? Aspect Development? I have no idea what they do. But you don't need to be a household name to be worth billions. Here are the 15 biggest tech deals since 1998.

(Numbers by Thomson Financial)

4:43 PM on Wed Feb 13 2008
By Jordan Golson
27,114 views
15 comments

Comments

sggrf at 05:22 PM on 02/13/08
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There cannot be many before 1998 that are bigger.
Adam Rock at 05:28 PM on 02/13/08
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adjusted for inflation?
BartKela at 06:16 PM on 02/13/08
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Not adjusted for inflation.

A simple Google search for "jds uniphase sdl" led me to a Forbes article in 2000 quoting an acquisition price of $41B.
Nicholas Carlson at 07:49 PM on 02/13/08
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Connectedness Index: 221
Brought to you by Acura TSX

Isn't it wonderful that AOL technically acquired Time Warner?
OpenTransport at 08:06 PM on 02/13/08
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Time Warner = Cable and media. AOL = telecom. So where's ATT/BellSouth, Sprint/Nextel, etc.?
Jordan Golson at 08:12 PM on 02/13/08
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@OpenTransport: AOL is hardly telecom.
whizkid at 08:56 PM on 02/13/08
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June 99, Lucent buys Ascend Comms, $24 Billion

"15 biggest"... or not so much... Maybe should be called "The 15 biggest we could remember".
TechMerkin at 09:24 PM on 02/13/08
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@Jordan Golson: For someone who called Cisco a "telecom giant," you're getting awfully big for your britches.
Jordan Golson at 09:53 PM on 02/13/08
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@TechMerkin: That was actually Owen's edit. Blame him. I usually call Cisco a "networking giant."
Jordan Golson at 09:09 AM on 02/14/08
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@whizkid: This is from Thomson Financial, where we got the data from:

"We have this transaction classified as Telecom. There is generally a good deal of debate around Technology and Tech transactions, but our research methodologies rely on a number of classification systems (SIC, NAIC codes) and company business descriptions."
TechMerkin at 10:39 AM on 02/14/08
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@Jordan Golson: My apologies, the hair product must be seeping into his brain.
OaklandTechie at 07:51 PM on 02/14/08
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Boy, when @Home bought Excite for 7.1B in 1999 it sure seemed like it would be the biggest Internet deal for many years. So much for that.
calrik at 08:26 PM on 02/14/08
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hmm this chart abit out of date eh what about the merger with Blizzard and Activision worth $18.8bn and how can you count the merger with yahoo and microsoft when that hasn't even happened yet and possibilty it still may not...
ashkan at 02:10 PM on 02/15/08
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Here are the top mergers and acquisition deals of all time, across industries:

[watchmojo.com]

Enjoy. We try to add to the list every once in a while to make it as comprehensive as possible.
MKJ at 01:25 AM on 02/24/08
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There is a typo in your list - Symantec (not Seagate) acquired Veritas.