Bill Gates Lied? Microsoft May Offer to Buy Out Facebook.

It was only a few hours ago that we heard from Bill Gates, who, during a press conference in Tokyo, said that Microsoft was planning on building an independent strategy for future growth and did not have a hole burning in its pocket, now that the Yahoo deal is dead (for now). The fact remains, however, that Microsoft still needs to find a way to improve its search and advertising tactics if it wants to beat Google and Yahoo.

What Does Independent Mean to Bill Gates?

But perhaps Gates has a different understanding of the word “independent” when it comes to Microsoft. According to Kara Swisher, Microsoft has been seriously considering a complete buy-out of popular social networking site Facebook. Now, Microsoft already threw a $240 investment at Facebook, blessing it with a $15 billion valuation and making Zuckerberg one of the youngest to be on the short list for top billionaires.