
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>Microsoft’s third calendar quarter earnings were the most robust in the company’s five-decade history, though the Washington-based computing colossus indicated it may get less of a bump from the next generation of technological innovation in generative artificial intelligence moving forward.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>In its earnings report released Wednesday afternoon, Microsoft reported record $3.30 earnings per share and net income of $24.7 billion, beating average analyst forecasts of $3.10 EPS and $23.2 billion net profit, according to FactSet.</p>



<p>The firm brought in $65.6 billion in revenue for the three-month period ending Sept. 30, besting estimates of $64.6 billion and the prior quarter’s record $64.7 billion.</p>



<p>Sales in Microsoft’s cloud computing service Azure grew 34% year-over-year on a constant currency basis, also crushing projections of 30.7% growth for Azure, the most public-facing generative AI initiative for Microsoft.</p>



<p>But Microsoft shares dipped about 5.5% by 11 a.m. EDT Thursday, reversing an initial gain and pacing toward its worst day on Wall Street since Oct. 2022.</p>



<p>The selloff traces to Microsoft management’s more tepid guidance for the final quarter of 2024, as the company said it expects year-over-year growth for Azure to slow to 31% to 32% and for 18% to 20% growth in its AI-heavy intelligent cloud segment on a constant currency basis, down from 21% in the quarter ending last month, as well as anticipated operating losses from OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed startup behind generative AI chatbot ChatGPT.</p>



<p>The Microsoft stock losses weighed on broader indexes, with the S&amp;P 500 and tech-concentrated Nasdaq each down about 0.7%.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">Big Number</h2>



<p>$180 billion. That’s about how much market capitalization Microsoft lost Thursday morning, roughly the equivalent of Disney’s total valuation.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>Microsoft’s report was the latest in a crowded week for earnings, following Google’s Tuesday release and frontrunning Thursday afternoon reports from fellow tech titans Amazon and Apple. The first quarter of Microsoft’s 2025 fiscal year, this quarter was also the first since Microsoft&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/21/microsoft-changes-reporting-to-boost-cloud-consumption-visibility.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">adjusted</a>&nbsp;how it reports its business segment performance, a shuffle analysts say should better&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/21/microsoft-changes-reporting-to-boost-cloud-consumption-visibility.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reflect</a>&nbsp;the competition between Azure and rival enterprise cloud computing service Amazon Web Services. But it’s a change which Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik predicted may cause “confusion” among investors following this report as expectations recalibrate for Microsoft’s wide-spanning businesses. For example, Microsoft reported $24.1 billion in revenue for its intelligent cloud unit last quarter, a year-over-year decline for that segment despite more than 30% growth for the unit’s signature Azure offering. Microsoft is one of the most profitable companies in the world, with its $88 billion in net income during its most recent fiscal year trailing only Apple and Berkshire Hathaway among U.S. companies. Microsoft stock was up 87% over the last two years through Wednesday’s close, outgaining the S&amp;P 500 and rival Apple at 54% and 50%, respectively, according to FactSet data including reinvested dividends.</p>



<p>.</p>


Microsoft Experience Center Ahead Of Earnings Figures

Microsoft Stock Slips To Worst Day In Years Despite Record Earnings


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Chip designer and artificial intelligence juggernaut Nvidia narrowly topped Microsoft’s market capitalization Tuesday to become the world’s most valuable public company, less than two weeks after it <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/06/05/nvidia-tops-apples-market-cap-becoming-the-worlds-2nd-most-valuable-company/">surpassed Apple’s market cap</a> following months of strong stock gains.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Nvidia shares traded up more than 3% Tuesday afternoon at around $135.65, while Microsoft traded down a fraction of a percent at $447.58.</p>



<p>The stock performances sent Nvidia’s market cap up to $3.33 trillion and Microsoft’s to $3.32 trillion.</p>



<p>Nvidia’s stock is up about 12% since its recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2024/06/10/nvidia-shares-now-trading-at-just-120-after-stock-split-in-wake-of-monstrous-run/">stock split</a>, which brought its price down from $1,210 per share to about $120 per share.</p>



<p>Nvidia began the year with a $1.2 trillion market value, less than half of Microsoft and Apple’s market cap at the time.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>177%. That’s how much Nvidia’s market cap has spiked since the start of the year, when shares traded at $48.17 (adjusted for stock split).</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FORBES VALUATION</h2>



<p>We estimate Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s net worth at <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/jensen-huang/">$118.8 billion</a>, making him the 11th-richest person in the world—the highest ranking he’s secured on Forbes’ <a href="https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#13e2edb03d78">real-time billionaires list</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Nvidia’s milestone comes amid an artificial intelligence craze that has made its chips and graphics processing units increasingly valuable to fellow tech companies like Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet. Microsoft is estimated to make up 15% of Nvidia’s revenue, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-stock-mystery-customer-microsoft-ubs-revenue-h100-gpu-chips-2024-5#:~:text=According%20to%20supply%20chain%20data,at%20about%206%25%20of%20revenue." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>&nbsp;supply chain data, and Nvidia is estimated to control between 70% and 95% of the AI chip market,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/02/nvidia-dominates-the-ai-chip-market-but-theres-rising-competition-.html#:~:text=Nvidia%20dominates%20the%20AI%20chip%20market%2C%20but%20there's%20more%20competition%20than%20ever,-Published%20Sun%2C%20Jun&amp;text=Nvidia's%20AI%20accelerators%20have%20between,other%20chipmakers%20ramp%20up%20development." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">CNBC&nbsp;</a>reported, citing Mizuho Securities. Nvidia, which reported $8.4 billion in net income in its 2023 fiscal year, shows little to no signs of slowing down, as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2024/06/15/can-apple-stock-go-much-higher-analysts-dont-think-so-heres-why/">analysts forecast</a>&nbsp;its net income to surpass Apple’s in just four years.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2024/06/10/nvidia-shares-now-trading-at-just-120-after-stock-split-in-wake-of-monstrous-run/">Nvidia Shares Now Trading At Just $120 After Stock Split In Wake Of Monstrous Run</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/06/05/nvidia-tops-apples-market-cap-becoming-the-worlds-2nd-most-valuable-company/">Nvidia Tops Apple’s Market Cap, Becoming The World’s 2nd Most Valuable Company</a> (Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2024/06/15/can-apple-stock-go-much-higher-analysts-dont-think-so-heres-why/">Can Apple Stock Go Much Higher? Analysts Don&#8217;t Think So: Here&#8217;s Why</a> (Forbes)</p>


Nvidia’s Stock Price Hits Record High, As Analysts Increase Their Outlook On The Company

Nvidia Now World’s Most Valuable Company—Topping Microsoft And Apple


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Microsoft has asked some of its artificial intelligence and cloud business employees in China to consider moving out of the country, according to a Wall Street Journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/microsoft-asks-hundreds-of-china-based-ai-staff-to-relocate-amid-u-s-china-tensions-b626ff8c?st=5hewt0npk1e448n&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">report</a>, amid ongoing geopolitical and trade tensions between Washington and Beijing as the Biden administration attempts to curb China’s access to advanced technology, including AI.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the Journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/microsoft-asks-hundreds-of-china-based-ai-staff-to-relocate-amid-u-s-china-tensions-b626ff8c?st=5hewt0npk1e448n&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported</a>&nbsp;that around 700 to 800 Microsoft staffers in China have received offers to move to countries including the U.S., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.</p>



<p>The staffers in question are mostly engineers of Chinese nationality working on machine learning and cloud computing.</p>



<p>The tech giant&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-asks-hundreds-china-based-staff-relocate-amid-us-china-tensions-wsj-2024-05-16/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">responded</a>&nbsp;to the report, saying internal transfers are a “regular part” of its global operations, and confirmed “an optional internal transfer opportunity” was offered to some workers.</p>



<p>Microsoft said it remains committed to its China business and will continue to operate there.</p>



<p>It is unclear if any of the workers have taken up Microsoft’s offer and what impact a large number of transfers would have on Microsoft’s cloud business and AI research efforts in China.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-news-peg">NEWS PEG</h2>



<p>Earlier this month, Reuters&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-eyes-curbs-chinas-access-ai-software-behind-apps-like-chatgpt-2024-05-08/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported</a>&nbsp;the Biden administration was planning fresh restrictions against exports of proprietary AI models like those that power Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini to certain adversarial nations like China and Russia. There are currently no restrictions on companies like OpenAI, Microsoft and Google from selling or licensing their advanced AI models to almost any foreign entities. U.S. government officials are concerned that these advanced models—trained on a large amount of data—may be misused by rival powers. In February,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2024/02/14/staying-ahead-of-threat-actors-in-the-age-of-ai/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Microsoft</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://openai.com/index/disrupting-malicious-uses-of-ai-by-state-affiliated-threat-actors/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">OpenAI</a>&nbsp;reported that cyber threat actors from Russia, China, and Iran have been using the ChatGPT-maker’s tools to increase the sophistication of their attacks.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>Last month, Microsoft announced an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/04/16/what-to-know-about-g42-the-emirati-ai-giant-that-just-got-a-15-billion-investment-from-microsoft/?sh=6f7ef5f97596">investment</a>&nbsp;of $1.5 billion in the United Arab Emirates-based AI firm G42. Microsoft said the deal had been carried out in “close coordination with the governments of both the UAE and the United States.” The deal was reportedly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/843796a6-191c-4828-8bc9-d6648e4b460e" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">orchestrated</a>&nbsp;by the two governments after the Biden administration expressed concerns about G42’s close links with Chinese firms. To address U.S. concerns ahead of the deal, the UAE-based firm agreed to phase out the use of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6710c259-0746-4e09-804f-8a48ecf50ba3" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Chinese equipment</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/82473ec4-fa7a-43f2-897c-ceb9b10ffd7a" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">divested</a>&nbsp;its stakes in Chinese companies including TikTok’s parent ByteDance.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Efforts to curb China’s access to AI software and services follow the Biden administration’s crackdown on shipments of advanced AI chips, like the ones designed by Nvidia, to China. In October last year, U.S. officials<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/britneynguyen/2023/10/17/biden-administration-limits-chinas-access-to-ai-chips-like-nvidias-to-curb-military-development/?sh=2cfac3661c90">&nbsp;unveiled new rules</a>&nbsp;under which AI chipmakers need to obtain special licenses to sell their semiconductors to China and other adversarial countries, including Iran and Russia.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/microsoft-asks-hundreds-of-china-based-ai-staff-to-relocate-amid-u-s-china-tensions-b626ff8c?st=5hewt0npk1e448n&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Microsoft Asks Hundreds of China-Based AI Staff to Consider Relocating Amid U.S.-China Tensions</a>&nbsp;(Wall Street Journal)</p>


Storefronts And General Views Of Cologne

Microsoft Offers To Relocate Some China Staffers Amid US Efforts To Curb Beijing’s AI Access, Report Says


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Microsoft will split up its workplace messaging and video calls app Teams from its Office platform globally, the company told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-separate-teams-office-globally-amid-antitrust-scrutiny-2024-04-01/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Reuters</a>&nbsp;early on Monday, mirroring a move it undertook in the European Union last year as it attempts to avoid being penalized by the bloc’s antitrust regulators.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>In August last year, Microsoft announced it would unbundle Teams from its Microsoft 365 subscription—which includes its Office suite of productivity software like Word, Excel and PowerPoint—in the EU and offer the messaging service as a standalone subscription.</p>



<p>The tech giant&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-separate-teams-office-globally-amid-antitrust-scrutiny-2024-04-01/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told</a>&nbsp;Reuters Monday it will enact the change for all its customers worldwide “to ensure clarity,” and businesses can now choose slightly cheaper Microsoft 365 plans without Teams.</p>



<p>The company said its decision was based on feedback from the European Commission to help global companies “standardize their purchasing across geographies.”</p>



<p>Forbes has reached out to Microsoft for a comment.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm,&nbsp;<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_3991" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">opened</a>&nbsp;an antitrust investigation into Microsoft in July last year. The commission said the investigation intended to assess whether the company “breached EU competition rules by tying or bundling its communication and collaboration product Teams to its popular suites for businesses Office 365 and Microsoft 365.” The executive body expressed concerns about Microsoft “abusing” the market dominance of its Office productivity software to restrict competition for “communication and collaboration products.” The investigation followed a complaint filed against Microsoft and Teams by its rival messaging platform Slack. Microsoft&nbsp;<a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/eupolicy/2023/08/31/european-competition-teams-office-microsoft-365/#:~:text=First%2C%20beginning%20October%201%2C%202023,or%20%E2%82%AC24%20per%20year)." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">responded</a>&nbsp;by unbundling Teams from its office productivity suite for EU customers in August. At the time, the company said it was taking “meaningful steps” to address the commission’s concerns and had gained clarity “from extensive and constructive discussions” with the executive body.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



<p>It is unclear if Microsoft’s latest actions are enough to fend off an antitrust fine from the EU. The commission had particularly expressed concern that Microsoft was giving Teams a “distribution advantage” over rivals by “not giving customers the choice” on whether they want to include Teams in their Office subscription. The unbundling will likely assuage that issue, but the commission had also raised a red flag about Microsoft possibly limiting “interoperability between its productivity suites” and rival messaging apps. If the investigators are unsatisfied with the remedies and find Microsoft guilty of antitrust breaches, the company could face fines as high as 10% of its global annual turnover.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>$2.37 billion (€2.2 billion). That is the quantum of antitrust fines Microsoft has faced in the European Union in the past decade, the Reuters report added.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-separate-teams-office-globally-amid-antitrust-scrutiny-2024-04-01/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft to separate Teams and Office globally amid antitrust scrutiny</a> (Reuters)</p>


Microsoft Services Down For Tens Of Thousands Around World

Microsoft Unbundles Teams From Office Suite In A Bid To Address Antitrust Probe


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Microsoft&nbsp;<a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/blog/2024/03/update-on-microsoft-actions-following-attack-by-nation-state-actor-midnight-blizzard/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">says</a>&nbsp;that the Russian-linked group known as Midnight Blizzard or Nobelium has made repeated attempts to access Microsoft’s systems in recent weeks, escalating its efforts against Microsoft since the company first disclosed in January that Midnight Blizzard had&nbsp;<a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/blog/2024/01/microsoft-actions-following-attack-by-nation-state-actor-midnight-blizzard/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">accessed</a>&nbsp;some of its corporate email accounts.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>The group first launched its attack on Microsoft in November, with the company disclosing in January that the group had successfully used a “password spray attack,” trying a large number of potential passwords on known accounts, to finally access “a very small percentage of Microsoft corporate email accounts.”</p>



<p>On Friday, Microsoft announced in both a blog post and an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/ixviewer/ix.html?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0000789019/000119312524062997/d808756d8ka.htm" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">SEC filing&nbsp;</a>that Midnight Blizzard was using information lifted from that attack “to gain, or attempt to gain, unauthorized access” to the company’s source code repositories and internal systems.</p>



<p>Microsoft says that Midnight Blizzard has increased the volume of its attacks “by as much as 10-fold” compared to what the company had already seen in January.</p>



<p>While Microsoft maintains that none of its customer-facing systems have been compromised, it noted that Midnight Blizzard may have accessed some emails between customers and Microsoft, and Microsoft has begun reaching out to affected customers.</p>



<p>Midnight Blizzard, as Microsoft refers to it, goes by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2024/01/25/midnight-blizzard-guidance-for-responders-on-nation-state-attack/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">several names</a>, including Nobelium, APT29 and perhaps most recognizably Cozy Bear—the name that made headlines when it targeted the Democratic National Convention ahead of the 2016 elections, part of the hack which led to the discovery of Russian efforts to manipulate U.S. politics that year.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-was-midnight-blizzard-s-role-in-the-dnc-hack">WHAT WAS MIDNIGHT BLIZZARD’S ROLE IN THE DNC HACK?</h2>



<p>Midnight Blizzard, reported at the time as Cozy Bear, was one of two&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/17/fancy-bear-cozy-bear-russia.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Russian-linked</a>&nbsp;groups cited for the infamous hack of the Democratic National Convention ahead of the 2016 election. The other group, Fancy Bear, is believed to be linked to Russian military intelligence, also known as the GRU, which likely played a “more active role” in the hack and Russia’s widely reported disinformation campaign, according to Adam Meyers, head of counter adversary operations at CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/bears-midst-intrusion-democratic-national-committee/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">first investigated</a>&nbsp;the DNC hack. Cozy Bear, on the other hand, is associated with the Russian SVR, which is Russia’s external intelligence agency and was likely doing “intelligence collection” in the hack, Meyers said.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Cozy Bear has a “long operational history” dating back to the 2010s, Meyers told Forbes, often engaging in campaigns targeting diplomatic and political intelligence collection. The DNC hack wasn’t its only high-profile campaign. The group has been pinned for the 2020 hack of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solarwinds-hack-explained-government-agencies-cyber-security-2020-12" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">SolarWinds</a>, a Texas-based IT firm, which then passed along compromised system updates to thousands of customers—including Microsoft and U.S. agencies, including the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security. More recently, the hacks targeting Microsoft and also hacks in January&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-24/hpe-says-it-was-hacked-by-group-believed-to-be-midnight-blizzard" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">targeting&nbsp;</a>Hewlett Packard, have brought the group back into public awareness.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



<p>Microsoft wrote in its filing that its investigation into the attacks is ongoing, that findings will continue to evolve “and further unauthorized access may occur.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chief-critic">CHIEF CRITIC</h2>



<p>Meyers raised concern about Microsoft’s ability to contain the attack, given its warning about potential further unauthorized access. He noted Microsoft was also breached in the SolarWinds attack and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/chinese-hackers-stole-60000-emails-us-state-department-microsoft-hack-senate-2023-09-27/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pointed to access</a> from Chinese hackers who accessed emails from State Department officials through Microsoft. He said he believed that Microsoft is a “national security threat” due to this history of breaches, noting the company’s many contracts with governments around the world—many of whom are electing new leaders this year—and its own advanced artificial intelligence models. “Think about what a Russian threat actor like Cozy Bear can do with some of the most advanced AI models known to man,” Meyers told Forbes. Forbes has contacted Microsoft for comment.</p>


Logo Photo Illustration

Who Is Midnight Blizzard? Russian-Linked Group Has Repeatedly Targeted Microsoft, Company Says


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that Microsoft can’t compete with Google and that the search engine’s market share is so large the internet has basically become the “Google web” Monday during more than three-and-a-half hours of testimony in Google’s antitrust trial, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/technology/microsoft-ceo-testifies-google-search.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">multiple</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/02/microsoft-ceo-google-antitrust-trial/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">news</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/microsoft-ceo-testifies-about-limits-of-ai-at-google-antitrust-trial-32d032a9?mod=hp_lead_pos5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">organizations</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Nadella reportedly testified that Microsoft and Bing, its search engine, was unable to compete with Google because of deals Google has made with partners like Apple and Samsung to make Google the default search engine on their devices and browsers.</p>



<p>Nadella described Google’s deal with Apple in particular as “oligopolistic,” and said the deals in sum amount to a “vicious cycle” for Microsoft, according to reports.</p>



<p>He also said that at one point Microsoft was willing to pay “north of 10 plus billion a year” to convince companies to make Bing the default over Google, but companies wouldn’t give in (equity firm Sanford Bernstein estimated Google is paying Apple $18 billion to $19 billion this year to make Google the default on iPhones and other Apple products, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/02/microsoft-ceo-google-antitrust-trial/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Washington Post</em></a>).</p>



<p>Google’s lawyers continually argued that Microsoft’s lack of ability to compete was because it had an inferior product, not because of the default agreements.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>“The entire notion that users have choice, and they go from one website to another website … is completely bogus,” Nadella testified Monday. “Defaults is the only thing that matters in changing search behavior.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



<p>“Google” is the most searched for word on Bing, John Schmidtlein, Google’s lead litigator, pointed out as he cross-examined Nadella.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>When this trial began earlier this month, it became the biggest antitrust trial in more than two decades. The trial revolves around these agreements Google’s made with Apple, Samsung and other partners. The Department of Justice, which brought the case, argues that they constitute illegal means of creating and maintaining a monopoly. Google has continually argued that it is the default search engine on so many products, as well as most users’ preferred search engine, because it is simply a superior product.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/technology/microsoft-ceo-testifies-google-search.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft C.E.O. Testifies That Google’s Power in Search Is Ubiquitous</a>&nbsp;(New York Times)</p>



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<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/02/microsoft-ceo-google-antitrust-trial/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft CEO says Google’s deals with Apple led to its dominance</a>&nbsp;(Washington Post)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/microsoft-ceo-testifies-about-limits-of-ai-at-google-antitrust-trial-32d032a9?mod=hp_lead_pos5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft CEO Says Google’s Agreements With Apple Unfairly Harmed Bing</a> (Wall Street Journal)</p>


Google Chrome Requests A New Emergency Security Update

The Internet Is Really Just The “Google Web,” Microsoft CEO Says During Google’s Antitrust Trial


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Microsoft share price closed at a record $359.49 on Tuesday following the company’s reveal of Microsoft 365 Copilot, an AI-powered version of the productivity platform—the latest tech company to enjoy an artificial intelligence-fueled boost.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Microsoft’s stock closed up nearly 4% Tuesday, reaching the highest value it has ever traded at and pushing the company’s market cap to $2.67 trillion.</p>



<p>The tech conglomerate’s positive stock performance was fueled by an announcement that the AI-powered Microsoft 365 Copilot would be offered for $30 a month for Microsoft 365 customers on different plans.</p>



<p>The Copilot subscription would be added on top of existing Microsoft 365 plans, which already range from $12.50 a month to $36 a month for each user.</p>



<p>The stock, which peaked at $366.30 Tuesday and hit an all-time high on June 15, has risen more than 6% in the last month.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h2>



<p>Microsoft is one of several tech companies experiencing record-setting stock prices in the wake of AI developments and investments. Nvidia, which produces chips used to power AI systems, also reached an all-time high Tuesday—when it closed up more than 2% at&nbsp;<a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/NVDA?p=NVDA&amp;.tsrc=fin-srch" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$474.94</a>. The record comes less than two months after the company surged past a $1 trillion market cap, driven partly by optimism that the company’s chips could help fuel AI systems. Last month, software company Oracle recorded an all-time high&nbsp;<a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/ORCL?p=ORCL&amp;.tsrc=fin-srch" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stock price</a>&nbsp;of $126.55 before later dropping slightly, benefiting from developments in AI that have led the company to invest in Cohere—a generative AI startup valued at more than $2 billion.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



<p>Microsoft has not set a release date for the incoming AI software, which will enter a competitive market inhabited by the likes of&nbsp;<a href="https://workspace.google.com/blog/product-announcements/generative-ai" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=salesforce+ai+workspace&amp;oq=salesforce+ai+workspace&amp;gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDI4MjNqMGo3qAIAsAIA&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Salesforce</a>&nbsp;and other tech juggernauts.</p>



<p>Forbes Daily: Get our best stories, exclusive reporting and essential analysis of the day’s news in your inbox every weekday.Sign Up</p>



<p>By signing up, you accept and agree to our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/terms-and-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Terms of Service</a>&nbsp;(including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/privacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Privacy Statement</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Microsoft’s Copilot was&nbsp;<a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2023/03/16/introducing-microsoft-365-copilot-your-copilot-for-work/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced in March</a>&nbsp;as a Microsoft 365 integration that would help users with productivity and skills on apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement that the AI addition would “fundamentally change the way we work and unlock a new wave of productivity growth.” Since the start of the year, Microsoft’s stock has increased nearly $120 per share, recovering from plummeting prices for it and other major tech companies last year and reaching well past Microsoft’s best stock performances ever—which were recorded in late 2021.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bethkindig/2023/06/15/microsoft-ai-will-help-drive-100-billion-in-revenue-by-2027/?sh=46a3f24c71c2">Microsoft –AI Will Help Drive $100 Billion In Revenue By 2027</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/05/30/nvidia-hits-1-trillion-market-value/?sh=533a87e3eab4">Nvidia Hits $1 Trillion Market Value</a> (Forbes)</p>


Microsoft Stock Closes At All-Time High After Revealing New AI-Powered Platform


<p>Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates has led by any measure a highly eventful life—but says no year was more “difficult” or “unusual” than 2021. The world’s No. 4 richest person (worth&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/bill-gates/?list=rtb/&amp;sh=4a6148f0689f">nearly $139 billion</a>,&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;estimates) opened up about his personal struggles—including his headline-making divorce from Melinda French Gates—in a year-in-review post&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/About-Bill-Gates/Year-in-Review-2021?WT.mc_id=20211207100000_YIR2021_BG-TW_&amp;WT.tsrc=BGTW" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a>&nbsp;on Tuesday to his blog, GatesNotes.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The typically upbeat Gates struck a somber tone in his lengthy annual post, describing 2021 as “an incredibly hard year for many people, including me.” While admitting he’d rather focus on his work over the past year, Gates recognized the national curiosity around his divorce, which was announced suddenly in May after 27 years of marriage, and offered some insight into his feelings since.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“Melinda and I continue to run our foundation together and have found a good new working rhythm,” Gates wrote of the pair’s continued work with their nonprofit, the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation. “But I can’t deny that it’s been a year of great personal sadness for me. Adapting to change is never easy, no matter what it is.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>One of the biggest changes has been spending “stretches of time without any face-to-face interactions,” said Gates, describing himself as an “empty-nester” thanks to the departures of his two youngest children, Phoebe and Rory. His third child, Jenn, recently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2021/11/28/north-salem-billionaires-dirt-road-wes-edens-jamie-dinan-larry-fink-georgina-bloomberg-david-letterman-richard-gere-andmore/?sh=1c2f810e3bef">married</a>&nbsp;equestrian Nayel Nasser in an event Gates deemed “the highlight of [his] year.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>Though “the house is a lot quieter without a bunch of teenagers hanging around” and it’s easier to focus on doing work or reading a book (a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/11/22/these-are-bill-gates-5-favorite-books-of-2021/?sh=2fe79508bb7c">favorite hobby </a>of his), Gates said he misses having his children around. “It’s a strange and disorienting experience,” he wrote. “My personal world has never felt smaller than it did over the last twelve months.” </p>



<p>All in all, it was a year of “big transitions” for the Microsoft billionaire, but that was far from the only thing on his mind. Gates said he spent a lot of time thinking about the long-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, including what he fears to be a dangerous decline in people’s trust in public institutions, a trend he attributed in part to the lack of regulation of social media platforms and the spread of disinformation.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“Based on what I’ve seen over the last couple of years, I’m more worried than I’ve ever been about the ability of governments to get big things done,” Gates wrote, adding that he is particularly concerned because of the need for governments to take action on challenges like avoiding a climate disaster or preventing the next pandemic. The billionaire, who is writing a book on pandemic preparedness, said this topic is the “biggest and most important thing I’m working on in 2022.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>On a more positive note, Gates expressed optimism and excitement about technological advancements sparked by the pandemic that he thinks have the potential to revolutionize healthcare, education and office work. For example, Gates said he expects most work meetings will be taking place within&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2021/11/03/zuckerberg-facebook-metaverse-meta-virtual-reality-oculus/?sh=50af824d6b69">the metaverse</a>&nbsp;using 3D digital avatars within the next two or three years.&nbsp;</p>



<p>&nbsp;“As unbelievable as it sounds, we’re only starting to see how digitization is going to change our lives,” he wrote. “There is so much potential for technology to create more flexibility and options for people.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>As for when coronavirus-related disruptions may end, Gates predicted the “acute phase” of the pandemic will come to a close “some time in 2022.” He recognized the newly emerging Omicron variant as “concerning,” but said “the world is better prepared to tackle potentially bad variants than at any other point in the pandemic so far.” In the future, Gates said he expects communities to see occasional outbreaks. However, “new drugs will be able to take care of most cases and hospitals will be able to handle the rest.”</p>



<p><strong><em>By Jemima McEvoy, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


2019 New York Times Dealbook

Bill Gates Reflects On His Divorce, Being Alone During Covid And The ‘Most Difficult’ Year Of His Life


<p>A former Microsoft security staffer has warned that cybercriminals are mass exploiting vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange email servers because organizations were not properly warned which systems to patch.</p>



<p>Many organizations appear not to have patched, which has led to mass exploitation of the vulnerabilities, warned Kevin Beaumont, who posted about the issues on his<a href="https://doublepulsar.com/multiple-threat-actors-including-a-ransomware-gang-exploiting-exchange-proxyshell-vulnerabilities-c457b1655e9c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;DoublePulsar blog</a>. Hundreds of U.S. government systems are exposed, he added, while the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security (CISA) issued an&nbsp;<a href="https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/current-activity/2021/08/21/urgent-protect-against-active-exploitation-proxyshell" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">alert</a>&nbsp;on Saturday.</p>



<p>“They are pre-authenticated (no password required) remote code execution vulnerabilities, which is as serious as they come,” he wrote.<strong>&nbsp;</strong>“Microsoft knew this would blow up in an international incident for customers. I know this because I worked there, and told people.” He noted that while Microsoft issued fixes five months ago, it hadn’t given the vulnerabilities standard identifying numbers to make it easier for users to determine what needed patching. “It created a situation where Microsoft’s customers were misinformed about the severity of one of the most critical enterprise security bugs of the year,” Beaumont added. (Microsoft hadn’t responded to a request for comment on Beaumont’s allegations at the time of publication.)</p>



<p>Among the hackers taking advantage of that is the ransomware group known as LockFile has been seen taking advantage of the flaws, which were first patched by Microsoft in March. LockFile has been linked to ransomware attacks on victims in various industries &#8211; including manufacturing, financial services, engineering and tourism -​​ around the globe, mostly in the U.S. and Asia, according to security company Symantec. It was first seen on the network of a U.S. financial organization on July 20, it wrote in a company&nbsp;<a href="https://symantec-enterprise-blogs.security.com/blogs/threat-intelligence/lockfile-ransomware-new-petitpotam-windows" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog post</a>.</p>



<p>The origins of the attacks can be traced back to weaknesses uncovered during a hacking contest earlier this year and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/blog/2021/8/17/from-pwn2own-2021-a-new-attack-surface-on-microsoft-exchange-proxyshell" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">detailed in full last week by Orange Tsai</a>. He found three weaknesses in Microsoft Exchange (the on-premise version, not Office 365), which, when combined, could be used to remotely take control of an email server.</p>



<p>Beaumont has now released a tool to help identify unpatched systems. It’s already been put to use by the national Computer Emergency Response Team in Austria to scan for vulnerable servers.</p>



<p>CISA said it “strongly urges organizations to identify vulnerable systems on their networks and immediately apply&nbsp;<a href="https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/current-activity/2021/05/11/microsoft-releases-may-2021-security-updates" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft&#8217;s Security Update from May 2021</a>—which remediates all three ProxyShell vulnerabilities—to protect against these attacks.”</p>



<p>Governments and private organizations across the world rely on Microsoft Exchange to run their day-to-day email, but this year it’s come under repeated attack with <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2021/03/03/microsoft-issues-critical-update-warning-as-chinese-hackers-attack-exchange-servers/">devastating large-scale hacks</a>. They <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/07/19/us-nato-and-allies-accuse-china-of-hacking-microsoft">included attacks that the Biden administration pinned on China</a>, which the country denied.</p>



<p><strong><em>By Thomas Brewster, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


Warning: ‘Extremely Serious’ Microsoft Vulnerabilities Hacked By Ransomware Criminals


<p>Microsoft&#8217;s move to add the role of board chairman to CEO Satya Nadella&#8217;s duties at the technology giant bucks a growing trend of companies separating the two jobs.</p>



<p>The number of companies whose CEO also held the title of chairman has declined steadily over the past three years at U.S. companies of all sizes, from the megacap corporations in the S&amp;P 500 to the smaller firms in the Russell 3000 index, according to new research by the Conference Board and analytics firm ESGAUGE.</p>



<p>The trend seems to be more pronounced among smaller companies. Only 36% of Russell 3000 companies had the CEO also serve as chair in 2020. That&#8217;s down from 41% percent in 2016.</p>



<p>“The importance of having an independent board has pushed many organizations to adopt a separation model,” says Matteo Tonello from The Conference Board. “The strong leadership skill sets in CEOs of very large S&amp;P 500 companies may be the reason why these companies are more reluctant to have the role separation,” he added.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Providing better oversight of company management and avoiding the sorts of conflicts of interest that sunk companies like WorldCom and Tyco, have largely been the reasons behind the role separations.</p>



<p>In companies that give CEOs a chair role as a reward for proving themselves as leaders, the gap is typically closer to two years. Nadella’s predecessor, Steve Ballmer, never named chairman during his 14-year tenure as CEO of the software giant. For years, co-founder Bill Gates played that role. John Thompson became chairman when Nadella was named CEO in February 2014 and will return to his previous role of being lead independent director.&nbsp;</p>



<p>&nbsp;Microsoft rationalized Nadella&#8217;s promotion in a statement that suggested the board wanted a firmer focus on management priorities. “In this role, Nadella will lead the work to set the agenda for the board, leveraging his deep understanding of the business to elevate the right strategic opportunities and identify key risks and mitigation approaches for the board’s review,” said the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/microsoft-board-of-directors-announces-role-changes-and-quarterly-dividend-301314220.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement.&nbsp;</a></p>



<p>&nbsp;The spotlight on the trend of CEOs serving as board chairs became more intense after the dot-com bubble burst in 2000. Along with sinking many Internet startups, the stock crash made investors more skeptical about the cult of personality around many company leaders. Scandals at companies like Tyco, Enron, and WorldCom only reinforced a key question: Where was the board?&nbsp; Separating the chairman and CEO role was seen as a critical step in reinforcing board independence.</p>



<p>The debate continued, intensifying again after the 2008 financial crisis. In February 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued rules requiring listed companies to disclose their leadership structure and explain why it was appropriate. That exercise, along with pressure from shareholders, proxy advisory firms, and regulators, has prompted a slow but steady trend towards separating the chair and CEO roles. As Peter Crist, chairman of search firm Crist | Kolder, notes, “once those roles are decoupled, it’s rare to go back.”</p>



<p>The exception is when a successful CEO wants that role — or it’s treated as a promotion for a job well done. Mary Barra at General Motors, for example, followed a fairly typical pattern in being named chair of GM two years after holding the CEO slot. What’s unusual about Satya Nadella is the fact that he was CEO for seven years before being named chairman. That could indicate some frustration or perceived issues with the board’s ability to navigate through the current environment.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“The chair has more power to control the agenda and set the stage for conversations in the boardroom,” says Crist. “A CEO may say, ‘I need to lead and educate the board’ to get things done.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>That said, Crist rarely supports such a move. “I’m a strong believer in separating the chair and CEO roles … Not many board members can stand up to a strong CEO. Look at compensation trends. When is  compensation going to trend down? Never. It’s important to have as much autonomy as possible … If you’re a high-performing company and the CEO is viewed as a critical element of success, investors will basically shrug their shoulders when a CEO gets named chair of the board.”</p>



<p><em><strong>By Aayushi Pratap, Forbes Staff</strong></em></p>


Microsoft Holds Annual Shareholder Meeting

Nadella’s Appointment As Microsoft Chair Bucks Governance Trend


<p>The man Warren Buffett expects to succeed him at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway is worth an estimated $484 million thanks to a stake in its privately held energy subsidiary, despite owning very little of Berkshire’s publicly traded stock.</p>



<p>At Berkshire’s annual meeting on Saturday, Buffett’s longtime lieutenant Charles Munger made an off-handed comment that “Greg will keep the culture” as Berkshire grows more decentralized, suggesting that the company’s vice chairman, Greg Abel, will succeed Buffett as CEO. Buffett later confirmed to CNBC that Abel is the current choice to take over, saying, “The directors are in agreement that if something were to happen to me tonight, it would be Greg who’d take over tomorrow morning.”</p>



<p>Abel has been a leader at Berkshire since the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate bought MidAmerican Energy in 2000 when he was its president. He became CEO of the company now named Berkshire Hathaway Energy in 2008 and served in that role until becoming Berkshire’s vice chairman in 2018.</p>



<p>Abel owns a 1% stake in Berkshire Hathaway Energy, billionaire Walter Scott owns 7.9% and Berkshire Hathaway owns the remaining 91.1% of the company, according to BHE’s 2020 annual report. Berkshire repurchased $126 million worth of shares from Scott on March 5, 2020, according to its latest proxy statement, valuing BHE at $53.4 billion. That makes Abel’s stake worth an estimated $480 million (Forbes discounts ownership stakes in privately held companies).</p>



<p>Abel’s piece of BHE makes up the vast majority of his net worth, Forbes estimates. He owns only five Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares in a trust and 2,363 Class B shares as a custodian for members of his family, according to the proxy statement. With Class A shares worth more than $400,000 per share and Class B shares trading at $280 for share as of Monday’s market close, that stake is worth about $2.8 million.</p>



<p>Abel and Ajit Jain were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinegara/2018/01/10/warren-buffett-adds-energy-head-greg-abel-and-insurance-maestro-ajit-jain-to-berkshires-board/?sh=5355b5717c73">named vice chairmen</a>&nbsp;at the same time in 2018, prompting speculation that both were in contention to move into the top job. Jain, a 35-year Berkshire veteran, manages its insurance operations, and Abel oversees everything else. Jain owns $185 million worth of Berkshire Hathaway shares, some of which are held by a private foundation. Abel, 58, is 11 years younger than Jain, which Buffett reportedly cited as a contributing factor to the decision. “They’re both wonderful guys. The likelihood of someone having a 20-year runway though makes a real difference,” Buffett told CNBC.</p>



<p>Although he is among the youngest members of Berkshire’s board of directors, Abel’s stake in the public company still stands out as strikingly small. Buffett’s 248,734 Class A shares make up the bulk of the Oracle of Omaha’s $106 billion fortune. Munger’s shares are worth $1.9 billion, and early investor David Gottesman owns a $2.6 billion stake. All but two others on Berkshire’s 14-member board have stakes worth much more than Abel’s. A company spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.</p>



<p>But as an added bonus to his lucrative Berkshire Hathaway Energy stake, Abel is paid handsomely in his role as vice chairman. His base salary was $16 million in each of the last three years, according to Berkshire’s proxy statement, and he received $3 million bonuses in 2020 and 2019 and a $2 million bonus in 2018. Buffett and Munger’s base salaries are a mere $100,000 annually.</p>



<p>Abel also serves on the board of Kraft Heinz and owns 40,036 shares individually, worth about $1.7 million. Berkshire Hathaway orchestrated the 2015 megamerger of Kraft and Heinz after buying both food companies with Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital and is Kraft Heinz’s largest shareholder with a 26.6% stake.</p>



<p><strong><em>By Hank Tucker, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


Inside The Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Annual General Meeting

Just How Rich Is Warren Buffett Successor Greg Abel?


<p>Microsoft’s $19.7 billion acquisition of artificial intelligence speech recognition company Nuance Communications, the software giant’s largest since its $26 billion purchase of LinkedIn in 2016, may signal a new binge of takeovers aimed at buttressing cash-rich Microsoft’s presence in an array of enterprise and consumer-facing businesses. Microsoft had a cash pile of more than $130 billion as of December. Its acquisition of Nuance, which pioneered the software behind Apple’s Siri virtual assistant and now focuses on speech recognition and automation for medical providers, shows the breadth of CEO Satya Nadella’s ambitions to expand beyond Microsoft’s core enterprise software business, analysts say.</p>



<p>“Nadella is on the M&amp;A warpath,” says Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. “The next frontier for Microsoft is not just sitting on its success.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>Microsoft bought video game holding company ZeniMax Media, owner of the Doom and Wolfenstein game series, among others, for $7.5 billion in September. Before that, it tried to acquire parts of TikTok, the wildly popular short-form video sharing app, but lost out to software rival Oracle. And Microsoft is said to be in talks to buy Discord, a popular chat app, for more than $10 billion. Big winners in the Nuance deal include the speech recognition company’s largest investors, Vanguard Group, Viking Global Investors and ClearBridge Investments. The company’s three largest individual shareholders are executives at the company: Robert Weideman, an executive vice president who has been at Nuance since 2003, owns nearly 340,00 shares, worth $19 million in the transaction. Daniel Tempesta, chief financial officer and executive vice president, owns 293,550 shares, or $16.4 million. Mark Benjamin, who became chief executive officer of Nuance in 2018, owns just over 160,000 shares, worth $9 million in the deal.</p>



<p>While ZeniMax, TikTok and Discord are all plays in the consumer market — in which Microsoft lags behind other tech giants — Nuance is a deal to bolster its enterprise business. Based in Burlington, Massachusetts, Nuance is the maker of speech recognition and artificial intelligence technology that has shifted its focus primarily to the healthcare sector, with over 60% of its revenue coming from that industry. Microsoft’s purchase of Nuance, announced Monday, includes $16 billion in cash and $3.7 billion in assumed debt. Nuance artificial intelligence technology could be applied to other industries for which Microsoft operates industry-specific clouds, including retail, manufacturing, financial services and nonprofits, says Mark Moerdler, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein &amp; Co.&nbsp; “The capabilities of what Nuance owns are applicable outside of the healthcare industry,” Moerdler says.</p>



<p>Enterprise software has been Microsoft’s crown jewel for some time. It has expanded beyond its Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office suite and its Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers by successfully establishing its foothold in cloud with Azure, its cloud computing service that now competes directly with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Its acquisition of LinkedIn makes it the operator of the most popular professional-oriented social network.</p>



<p>In a foreshadowing of its latest acquisition, Microsoft partnered with Nuance last year to launch Dragon Ambient Experience, a product that records and transcribes physician-patient conversations, automatically filling out electronic medical records. The product “was a solution for telehealth in response to the overwhelming increase in virtual visits sparked by the Covid-19 global pandemic,” a Nuance&nbsp;<a href="https://news.nuance.com/2020-04-20-Nuance-Launches-Dragon-Ambient-eXperience-for-Telehealth-Compatible-with-Any-Telehealth-Platform" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">press release</a>&nbsp;stated at the time. The next month, Microsoft announced it was building Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, which officially launched in October.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“When you look at the specific tech that Nuance brings in terms of speech recognition and conversational AI, Microsoft has been clearly heavily investing in that area for some time on its own,” says Jay Vleeschhouwer of Griffin Securities.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Some of the largest healthcare companies are Nuance customers, including Athena Health, John Hopkins School of Medicine, Cerner, Epic, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Yale New Haven Health. This gives Microsoft an opportunity to incorporate those clients and drive more traffic into Azure — an important strategy for the company, according to Michael Turits, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets. “[Microsoft] is spending billions of dollars to build out Azure, and it is a factory. Now let’s fill up the factory.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>Some analysts say it was a blessing that Microsoft’s attempt to buy TikTok failed. “The best thing that ever happened for Microsoft is that deal not happening,” Ives said of Wedbush. “It would have just added uncertainty to Microsoft at a time when the company is firing in all cylinders.” The flurry of actual and attempted dealmaking shows that Microsoft wants to compete in consumer tech. “I believe they need to be more aggressive on the consumer side because that’s the area where they’re playing behind the eight ball,” he says.</p>



<p>Discord, a videogame-focused messaging platform, would be a consumer play for Microsoft that some analysts believe would mesh well with its gaming business. Microsoft has the console XBox, game streaming service XCloud, and a Netflix-for-gaming product called GamePass.</p>



<p>Future acquisition targets for Microsoft remain to be seen, but they are likely to be companies that can drive growth for the company’s current products, says Moerdler of Sanford C. Bernstein. “It’s not about buying a company because it’s growing well or buying revenue,” he says. “It’s buying things that can positively disrupt its own business.”</p>



<p><em><strong>By Angel Au-Yeung, Forbes Staff</strong></em></p>


Day Two Of The World Economic Forum (WEF) 2020

Microsoft’s ‘Warpath’: The $19.7 Billion Buyout Of Nuance Communications Could Be The Start Of An Acquisition Spree


<p><strong>The world’s fourth-richest person has a plan to save the planet from catastrophic climate change — and it&#8217;s cheaper than you think.</strong></p>



<p>Bill Gates wants you to know two numbers: 51 billion and zero. The former is the number of tons of greenhouse gases typically added to the atmosphere each year as a result of human activities. The latter is the number of tons we need to get to by 2050 in order to avert a climate crisis.</p>



<p>Gates has a plan for how to go from 51 billion to zero, and he’s happy to say it doesn’t come with a price tag in the trillions of dollars. As you might expect from a guy who made his fortune in technology, the billionaire’s suggested solution is tied in large part to innovation.&nbsp;</p>



<p>He spells out his plan in a new book,&nbsp;<em>How To Avoid A Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have And The Breakthroughs We Need,&nbsp;</em>to be released on February 16. Ahead of the book launch, Gates talked to&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>about why he wrote the book. He also shared details the book doesn’t get into, including how much he’s invested in zero-carbon companies, which ones he’s most excited about, including a new kind of nuclear power plant, and what he’s likely to invest in next.</p>



<p>Goal number one of the book, says Gates, is to clearly lay out which sectors of the economy are producing the 51 billion tons of greenhouse gases the world typically adds to the atmosphere each year. “The actual numeric framework, which is the most basic thing for any problem you want to tackle&#8230;that’s really been missing,” Gates says in a video interview from a conference room in his offices in Seattle. (See table for the percentage breakdown.)  The goal we as a planet need to aim for: zero emissions by 2050. Gates is optimistic that as hard as it sounds, we can get there.   </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-how-it-adds-up-globally-51-billion-tons"><span class="has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color">How It Adds Up Globally: 51 Billion Tons  </span></h2>



<p id="h-emissions-dropped-about-5-in-2020-due-to-the-pandemic-gates-estimates-but-in-a-normal-year-the-world-adds-51-billion-tons-of-greenhouse-gases-to-the-atmosphere-gates-writes-in-his-book"><strong>Emissions dropped about 5% in 2020 due to the pandemic, Gates estimates. But in a normal year the world adds 51 billion tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, Gates writes in his book.</strong></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-style-default"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="594" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Screenshot-2021-02-18-at-11.05.34-1024x594.png" alt="" class="wp-image-50037" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Screenshot-2021-02-18-at-11.05.34-1024x594.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Screenshot-2021-02-18-at-11.05.34-300x174.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Screenshot-2021-02-18-at-11.05.34-768x446.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Screenshot-2021-02-18-at-11.05.34-1536x892.png 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Screenshot-2021-02-18-at-11.05.34-600x348.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Screenshot-2021-02-18-at-11.05.34.png 1602w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Photo by Forbes </figcaption></figure>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<p>Gates admits, both in his book and when we spoke, that he is an imperfect messenger on climate change. “The very idea that one person is saying they know what we should do —appropriately, there is some pushback,” he says. In his book, he writes, “The world is not exactly lacking in rich men with big ideas about what other people should do, or who think technology can fix any problem.” He admits to owning big houses and flying in private jets, though he tells me that he buys carbon offsets for $400 a ton for the private jet flights he takes. “I can’t deny being a rich guy with an opinion. I do believe, though, that it is an informed opinion, and I am always trying to learn more,” he writes.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Gates presciently warned in a 2015 talk about the dangers of a global pandemic and what we’d need to do to prepare for it. Similarly, this is not his first public prescription for the climate. In 2010 he gave a<a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_innovating_to_zero?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;TED talk</a>&nbsp;calling for the need to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050. He’s continued to consult experts in the field and delve into the latest in climate science and policy. In 2015 he got involved in the Paris Climate Summit, calling France’s then president, Francois Hollande, and encouraging him to get countries to agree to raise their R&amp;D budgets for clean tech innovation. Twenty countries signed on. Says Gates, “Although we did not see all those countries double their R&amp;D budgets, we did see some increase. That’s sort of when the field started to focus on can we get this innovation to take place.”</p>



<p>To help put a framework around progress and the cost of new carbon-free innovations, Gates and his team came up with a term called “Green Premium” and introduced it in his blog,<a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/Introducing-the-Green-Premiums" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;Gates Notes</a>, in September last year. As he explains it, the Green Premium spells out the difference in cost between a product or process that doesn’t emit carbon with one that does. Green Premiums have fallen in the passenger car sector to the point where more people are buying electric cars (though Gates points out that just 2% of global auto sales are electric vehicles). In the industrial sector, however, Green Premiums are much higher. Says Gates, “The hardest problems to solve are in areas like steel and concrete and even transportation things like aviation fuel.” The problems he’s referring to: coming up with processes to make these products that don’t emit greenhouse gases. The research is in its early stages, and that’s where government R&amp;D can play a role, Gates suggests.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>What’s It All Going To Cost?&nbsp;</strong></h3>



<p>In December, Gates suggested<a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/How-the-US-can-lead-on-climate-change-innovation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;in his blog</a>&nbsp;that the U.S. create a National Institutes of Energy Innovation to help the country take the lead in climate change innovation. The idea is to model it after the National Institutes of Health, the backbone of U.S. medical research, which has an annual budget of about $37 billion. Gates says current U.S. government R&amp;D spending on energy innovation is about $7 billion annually; that would need to be quintupled to match government spending on the NIH.</p>



<p>Another suggestion from Gates: shift the tax credits now available for solar and wind to more nascent areas like offshore wind, energy storage and new types of steel. “If you do that, and maybe double or triple the amount you spend on those tax benefits, then I do think that will be just a monumental contribution from the Biden administration,” he explains.</p>



<p>Whatever tech innovation comes out of the U.S. or elsewhere has to be affordable enough for countries like India to adopt it, Gates points out. Right now, the U.S. accounts for 14% of the world’s emissions. If just the U.S. gets to zero carbon emissions, we won’t be solving the problem globally.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Where Gates Is Investing</strong></h3>



<p>Gates, whose<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/bill-gates/?sh=68241add689f">&nbsp;$124 billion fortune</a>&nbsp;stems from an estimated 1% stake in Microsoft and a variety of other investments, says in the book he’s put “more than $1 billion” into companies working toward zero emissions. How much more? Altogether, he tells&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;it’s about $2 billion. He describes himself as perhaps the biggest funder of direct air capture technologies—methods to capture carbon from the air. Two of the more well-known companies he’s been an investor in are producing plant-based meats:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2020/07/30/impossible-foods-joins-beyond-on-the-shelves-of-walmart-americas-no-1-meat-seller/?sh=3d7caaf52685">Impossible Foods</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2020/11/16/green-and-lean-beyond-meat-announces-two-new-better-for-you-plant-based-burgers/?sh=49333f12299f">Beyond Meat</a>. Some of his investing he categorizes as philanthropic, like the money he’s put toward an open source climate model that aims to show how electricity generation will work in long periods of tough weather when wind and solar would be shut down.&nbsp;</p>



<p>His biggest bet has been on TerraPower, a nuclear power company with a reactor that uses depleted uranium as its fuel. Gates founded the company with a few others more than a decade ago. In 2017, TerraPower formed a joint venture with a Chinese company and was planning to produce its first reactor in China. That deal was scuttled by the U.S. government, which in late 2019 blocked U.S. cooperation with China on civilian nuclear power. Now the plan is to build a demonstration plant somewhere in the U.S. In October the U.S. Department of Energy awarded<a href="https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/us-department-energy-announces-160-million-first-awards-under-advanced-reactor" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;$80 million</a>&nbsp;to TerraPower toward construction of the plant; the agreement is that half of the funding will come from the private sector. Gates says, “That’s coming largely from me.”</p>



<p>His hope is that the demonstration plant will be built within five to seven years. “If things go well, that means that maybe in 10 years, commercial plant builders would take that design and build it ideally in the hundreds—which is what you need to have an impact on climate change.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>Gates has also invested in zero-carbon companies through Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a group he assembled that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2016/12/12/bill-gates-launches-1-billion-breakthrough-energy-investment-fund/?sh=41728d6a5b7d">launched in December 2016</a>. “It was a lot easier to raise the money than I expected,” he says. “I made about 22 calls and got about 20 yeses for the first billion.” Investors include billionaires such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/?sh=548de8471b23">Jeff Bezos</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/vinod-khosla/?sh=26fd668a3e07">Vinod Khosla</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/john-arnold/?sh=49c99d011001">John Arnold</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/john-doerr/?sh=53bd068026c5">John Doerr</a>; Gates says he’s the largest investor. So far Breakthrough Energy Ventures has invested in 40 companies; One, QuantumScape, which is developing lithium metal batteries for electric vehicles and has no revenues yet, went public through a SPAC last November. Though many of the companies are still early stage, Gates describes some as “really wild,” including QuidNet, which is working to store electricity by pumping water into pressured underground wells; when energy is needed, the water is released and goes through a turbine, creating electricity.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Breakthrough Energy Ventures raised another $1 billion fund in January, with most of the same initial investors and some newcomers. (Gates didn’t disclose names.) He says he’s the largest investor in the latest fund, too. The new fund will look to invest in more of the industrial processes like low-carbon cement and steel production as well as technologies to capture carbon from the air, Gates says.</p>



<p>Over the next five years, Gates says “I’ll put in at least $2 billion” toward zero-carbon technologies. But while a total of $4 billion is a lot of money, for someone worth more than $120 billion, it’s a small sliver of his overall investments. Says Gates, “It’s more limited by what is out there that can have a high impact.”</p>



<p>One of Gates’ other investments that’s been in the news recently seems to fly in the face of his zero-carbon focus. In early February, Gates’ investment arm, Cascade, partnered with Blackstone Group and private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners in a $4.7 billion deal to buy Signature Aviation, the world’s largest operator of private jet bases. Private jet travel has been booming during the pandemic, but such travel emits a heck of a lot of greenhouse gases. How does he square the deal with the premise of his book? A spokesperson for Gates did not reply to the question.</p>



<p>Will Gates’ book influence policy makers and move the needle toward innovation in zero-carbon technologies? It helps that combating climate change is already one of the Biden administration’s top four priorities. Given that the book is addressing weighty material, it’s relatively easy to read, sprinkled with Gates’ personal observations&nbsp; and even a photo of him with his son Rory on a visit to a geothermal power plant in Iceland. (Gates says he and Rory liked to visit power plants for fun.) He mentions that he drives an electric car&nbsp;<strong>—&nbsp;</strong>the Porsche Taycan Turbo, which he describes to&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;as “ridiculously nice and ridiculously expensive” — that sells for $150,000 or more. (He’s such a fan that he got one of the first demo models, he adds.)</p>



<p>If nothing else, Gates wants to get people talking. “My hope is that we can shift the conversation by sharing the facts with the people in our lives— our family members, friends, and leaders<strong>.</strong>&nbsp;And not just the facts that tell us why we need to act, but also those that show us the actions that will do the most good,” he writes.&nbsp;</p>



<p>A bigger measure of his success will be whether the Biden administration adopts any of his policy proposals. Says Gates, “I do think that with those increases [in spending], we’ll be doing exactly what we need to do, not just for us, but for the entire world.”</p>



<p><em>By Kerry A. Dolan, Forbes Staff</em></p>


How To Solve Climate Change: Bill Gates Wants You To Know Two Numbers


<p>Microsoft said in an SEC filing this week that it will actively consider women and minority candidates to succeed CEO Satya Nadella, making it among the most explicit statements from a major tech company about CEO diversity to date.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h4>



<p>In its annual proxy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/789019/000119312520272025/d31295ddef14a.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>, which was first&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/19/microsoft-board-wants-to-find-women-minorities-who-could-replace-ceo.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">spotted</a>&nbsp;by CNBC, Microsoft said its board of directors “is committed to actively seeking highly qualified women and individuals from minority groups to include in the pool of potential CEO candidates.”</p>



<p>The statement does not indicate that Nadella is on his way out imminently—companies typically include statements in annual regulatory filings about CEO succession, but rarely do they include promises about diversity.</p>



<p>In the wake of the George Floyd protests over the summer, Microsoft pledged to double the number of Black managers and senior leaders in the U.S. by 2025—though that effort is under&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2020/10/06/us-labor-department-investigating-microsoft-over-its-commitment-to-increase-black-representation-in-workforce/#4b05646f5361">scrutiny</a>&nbsp;from the Justice Department.</p>



<p>According to its 2019 diversity&nbsp;<a href="https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE4aqv1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>, women constitute 29.2% of Microsoft’s workforce, Black employees 4.4%, Latinx 6.2% and Asian 33.3%.&nbsp;</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h4>



<p>Critics have for years assailed the lack of diversity in corporate America. There are 32&nbsp;<a href="https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-ceos-of-the-sp-500/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">women</a>&nbsp;leading S&amp;P 500 companies and only 11% of S&amp;P 500 CEOs are ethnic minorities, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-are-there-still-so-few-black-ceos-11601302601" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Wall Street Journal</em></a>. Advocates point to a multitude of reasons why, including a failure to train and keep minority talent for executive roles and a tendency to put women and underrepresented groups in charge of marketing or human resources, which don’t typically serve as springboards to CEO positions.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h4>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2020/10/14/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-calls-for-referendum-on-capitalism/#33bd8fb4f3db">Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Calls For ‘Referendum On Capitalism’</a>&nbsp;(<em>Forbes</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/09/23/wells-fargo-ceo-apologizes-for-saying-theres-a-limited-pool-of-black-talent/#355b416e4622">Wells Fargo CEO Apologizes For Saying There’s A ‘Limited Pool Of Black Talent’ </a>(<em>Forbes</em>)</p>



<p><em>-By Rachel Sandler, Forbes Staff</em></p>


Microsoft Is Looking For Women And Minority Candidates To Eventually Replace CEO Satya Nadella


<p><strong>THE CHANGING FORTUNES OF THE WORLD’S RICHEST</strong></p>



<p class="has-drop-cap">After briefly becoming the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/hayleycuccinello/2020/08/31/elon-musk-100-billion-net-worth/#7d8e258880ed">fifth centibillionaire in the world</a> on Monday, August 31, Tesla CEO Elon Musk ended the week down $9.9 billion as tech companies — and their founders’ fortunes — took a hit.</p>



<p>While tech companies have largely been driving the stock market’s surge during the pandemic, heavyweights like Facebook and Amazon took a spill on Thursday and Friday during what some observers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/bd5804ef-94d0-45b4-9c2b-8fb7996ec5f6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">are calling a correction</a>. The S&amp;P 500 was down 2.3% for the week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Index fell 1.8%. Tesla stock started to falter on Wednesday,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/02/teslas-largest-outside-shareholder-reduces-holding-citing-portfolio-restrictions.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">after news broke that</a>&nbsp;its largest outside shareholder, Scottish investment firm Ballie Gifford, reduced its stake in the company. The stock ended the week down 5.5%.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Even with the decline, Musk is four times wealthier than he was a year ago, with a net worth of $87.9 billion. He is currently the fifth richest person in the world, $5.5 billion ahead of Warren Buffett.</p>



<p>The richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, hit a milestone last week when he became the first person tracked by Forbes with a fortune that exceeded $200 billion. With Amazon shares worth 3% less than a week ago at the market close on Friday, Bezos’ fortune dropped  $5.8 billion to $193.5 billion. His ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott (net worth: $62.4 billion), is $2 billion poorer this week.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="594" height="425" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/gettyimages-1148401100-594x594-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-46514" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/gettyimages-1148401100-594x594-1.jpg 594w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/gettyimages-1148401100-594x594-1-300x215.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px" /><figcaption>Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 6, 2019.   (Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p>Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune fell $4 billion as Facebook shares dropped 3.7% in the past week. He’s been more vocal than ever before about political misinformation on the social media platform and announced steps to mitigate the problem. On Wednesday, he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, announced a&nbsp;<a href="https://gizmodo.com/zuckerberg-drops-300-million-to-support-u-s-elections-1844921516" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$300 million donation</a>&nbsp;to support voting infrastructure, such as protective equipment for poll workers and polling place rentals. On Thursday, he said that Facebook would&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2020/09/03/facebook-will-block-new-political-ads-in-the-week-leading-up-to-election-day/#30873f0b7950">block new political ads</a>&nbsp;during the week before Election Day, and flag posts in which a candidate tries to claim a premature victory.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Quicken Loans cofounder Dan Gilbert had a chaotic week as shares of the online mortgage lender’s parent company, Rocket Companies, soared midweek ahead of the company’s first earnings report since it went public in August. Although <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.thestreet.com/investing/rocket-rkt-earnings-mortgage-initial-public-offering" target="_blank">it reported strong profits</a>, the stock corrected itself and ended the week down more than 13%. As of Friday, September 4, Gilbert is worth $51 billion — $7.3 billion less than last week, but nearly eight times richer than he was a year ago.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<p><strong>HERE ARE THE BILLIONAIRES WHOSE FORTUNES FELL THE MOST THIS WEEK.</strong></p>



<p><em>The net worth change is from close of markets Friday, August 28, to Friday, September 4.</em></p>



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading"><strong>1 | ELON MUSK</strong></h4>



<p>NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$87.9 BILLION, DOWN $9.9 BILLION</strong></p>



<p>COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>UNITED STATES</strong></p>



<p>SOURCE OF WEALTH |<strong>&nbsp;TESLA</strong></p>



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading"><strong>2 | DAN GILBERT</strong></h4>



<p>NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$51 BILLION, DOWN $7.3 BILLION</strong></p>



<p>COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>UNITED STATES</strong></p>



<p>SOURCE OF WEALTH |<strong> QUICKEN LOANS</strong></p>



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading"><strong>3 | JEFF BEZOS</strong></h4>



<p>NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$193.5 BILLION, DOWN</strong>&nbsp;<strong>$5.8 BILLION</strong></p>



<p>COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>UNITED STATES﻿</strong></p>



<p>SOURCE OF WEALTH |<strong> AMAZON</strong></p>



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading"><strong>4 | </strong> <strong>STEVE BALLMER</strong></h4>



<p>NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$72.9 BILLION, DOWN $4.1 BILLION</strong></p>



<p>COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>UNITED STATES</strong></p>



<p>SOURCE OF WEALTH |<strong> MICROSOFT</strong></p>



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading"><strong>5 | MARK ZUCKERBERG</strong></h4>



<p>NET WORTH | &nbsp;<strong>$103.8 BILLION, DOWN $4 BILLION</strong></p>



<p>COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>UNITED STATES</strong></p>



<p>SOURCE OF WEALTH |<strong> FACEBOOK</strong></p>



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading"><strong>6 | LARRY ELLISON</strong></h4>



<p>NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$74.2 BILLION, DOWN $2.7 BILLION</strong></p>



<p>COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>UNITED STATES</strong></p>



<p>SOURCE OF WEALTH |<strong> ORACLE</strong></p>



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading"><strong>7 | AMANCIO ORTEGA</strong></h4>



<p>NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$65.3 BILLION, DOWN $2.5 BILLION</strong></p>



<p>COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>SPAIN</strong></p>



<p>SOURCE OF WEALTH |<strong> ZARA</strong></p>



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading"><strong>8 | MA HUATENG</strong></h4>



<p>NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$57.5 BILLION, DOWN $2.3 BILLION</strong></p>



<p>COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>CHINA</strong></p>



<p>SOURCE OF WEALTH |<strong> TENCENT</strong></p>



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading"><strong>9 | LARRY PAGE</strong></h4>



<p>NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$70.6 BILLION, DOWN $2.2 BILLION</strong></p>



<p>COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>UNITED STATES</strong></p>



<p>SOURCE OF WEALTH |<strong> GOOGLE</strong></p>



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading"><strong>10 | SERGEY BRIN</strong></h4>



<p>NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$68.7 BILLION, DOWN $2.1 BILLION</strong></p>



<p>COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>UNITED STATES</strong></p>



<p>SOURCE OF WEALTH |<strong> GOOGLE</strong></p>



<p><em>-Ariel Shapiro, Forbes Staff</em></p>


Tag: Microsoft

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