Microsoft may invest in venture capital firms

[Mitch Stone <mstone@vc.net>]

I guess the theory goes, you can't possibly lose if you play all the 
numbers _and_ own the house.

======
Microsoft may invest in venture capital firms 
By Bloomberg News 
December 11, 1998, 5:05 a.m. PT 
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C29801%2C00.html? 

Microsoft plans to invest $5 million to $10 million each in as many as 
ten venture capital firms, giving the world's biggest software maker a 
way to ally with technology start-ups which traditionally have been 
hostile to Microsoft, according to reports. 

Microsoft has already invested in CMG Information Services and Accel 
Partners and is negotiating with Benchmark Capital, the Wall Street 
Journal reported, citing unnamed people close to the plans. 

Microsoft's investments in venture capital funds, which use investors' 
money to fund closely held companies, could help Microsoft keep track of 
new technology while helping partners expand. Some venture capitalists 
prefer to keep their distance because they worry Microsoft's dominance of 
the industry could lead to conflicts of interest or impair small firms' 
ability to grow independently, the paper said. 

Microsoft is the subject of an antitrust trial by 19 states and the 
Department of Justice.  

Copyright 1998, Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved.   

------------------------------------------------------- 

Mitch Stone
mstone@vc.net