Historical restoration, updated September 4, 2026: This article was published on August 3, 2020, when Microsoft had confirmed discussions with ByteDance about buying TikTok operations in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Microsoft did not name a proposed price. The widely repeated $50 billion figure came from a Reuters report about how some ByteDance investors valued all of TikTok, not from an agreed Microsoft offer.
The distinction matters: a company valuation, a bid, an announced transaction value, and final purchase consideration are not interchangeable. The comparison below therefore uses the nominal headline values disclosed when these selected transactions were announced, without adjusting for inflation. Several entries still require qualifications because companies reported different measures, including equity value, enterprise value, debt assumed, stock valued on a particular date, or the price of a controlling stake rather than the entire business.
Microsoft confirmed the discussions on August 2, 2020. At the time, President Donald Trump was threatening restrictions on TikTok on national-security grounds; an executive order issued August 6, 2020 alleged that its data collection could permit access by the Chinese government. Those were government allegations, not established findings in the proposed transaction. Reuters had reported on July 29 that some ByteDance investors seeking a takeover valued TikTok at about $50 billion.
Had a completed Microsoft acquisition actually carried a $50 billion headline value, it would have ranked second among the transactions selected in this 2020 comparison: below the approximately $67 billion Dell-EMC deal and above the $37 billion Avago-Broadcom deal.
Apple–Beats: $3 billion, announced in 2014
Apple agreed to pay a total of $3 billion for Beats Music and Beats Electronics: approximately $2.6 billion as the purchase price and $400 million scheduled to vest over time.
Google–Nest: $3.2 billion, announced in 2014
Google agreed to acquire Nest Labs for $3.2 billion in cash, adding its thermostats and smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms to Google’s portfolio.
Walmart–Jet.com: approximately $3.3 billion, completed in 2016
Walmart reported approximately $3 billion in cash consideration and restricted stock units valued at approximately $300 million for Jet.com. Walmart discontinued Jet.com in 2020, citing the strength of the Walmart.com brand.
Cisco–AppDynamics: approximately $3.7 billion, completed in 2017
Cisco paid approximately $3.7 billion in cash and assumed equity awards for the application and business-monitoring company.
Adobe–Marketo: $4.75 billion, announced in 2018
Adobe announced a $4.75 billion purchase price for Marketo, whose business-to-business marketing platform was added to Adobe Experience Cloud.
Microsoft–aQuantive: approximately $6 billion, announced in 2007
Microsoft valued its all-cash agreement for aQuantive at approximately $6 billion. The original article’s $6.3 billion figure was higher than Microsoft’s announced headline value.
Salesforce–MuleSoft: $6.5 billion, completed in 2018
Salesforce completed its acquisition of MuleSoft in May 2018. MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform connected applications, data, and devices across cloud and on-premises systems.
Microsoft–Nokia Devices & Services: €5.44 billion announced in 2013; completed in 2014
Microsoft agreed to pay €3.79 billion for substantially all of Nokia’s Devices & Services business and €1.65 billion for patent licenses. Contemporary dollar conversions placed the announced total near $7.2 billion, although Microsoft later recorded a $9.5 billion purchase price including $1.5 billion of acquired cash. The transaction closed on April 25, 2014. In July 2015, Microsoft announced an approximately $7.6 billion impairment and plans to eliminate up to 7,800 positions, primarily in its phone business.
Oracle–Sun Microsystems: approximately $7.4 billion, announced in 2009
Oracle described the transaction as worth approximately $7.4 billion, or $5.6 billion net of Sun’s cash and debt. The acquisition brought Java, Solaris, SPARC systems, storage, and other technology to Oracle; reducing the transaction to Java alone would overstate a single motive.
Microsoft–GitHub: $7.5 billion, announced and completed in 2018
Microsoft agreed to acquire GitHub for $7.5 billion in stock and completed the acquisition on October 26, 2018. The original article incorrectly dated the purchase to 2019.
Microsoft–Skype: $8.5 billion, announced in 2011
Microsoft agreed to pay $8.5 billion in cash for the internet communications company. The transaction closed on October 13, 2011.
Oracle–PeopleSoft: approximately $10.3 billion, announced in 2004
Oracle and PeopleSoft signed a definitive agreement valued at approximately $10.3 billion in December 2004, concluding Oracle’s extended pursuit of the enterprise-software company.
NXP–Freescale: approximately $11.8 billion in equity value, announced in 2015
NXP reported approximately $11.8 billion in equity value and $16.7 billion in enterprise value including Freescale’s net debt. This entry demonstrates why acquisition rankings change when equity and enterprise values are mixed.
Google–Motorola Mobility: approximately $12.5 billion, announced in 2011
Google agreed to pay approximately $12.5 billion in cash for Motorola Mobility. When Google later agreed to sell Motorola’s smartphone business to Lenovo, it retained ownership of the vast majority of Motorola Mobility’s patent portfolio.
Symantec–Veritas: approximately $13.5 billion announced in 2004
The all-stock transaction was announced at approximately $13.5 billion. Symantec’s subsequent financial reporting recorded a total purchase price of approximately $13.2 billion when the acquisition was completed in July 2005.
Amazon–Whole Foods Market: approximately $13.7 billion, announced and completed in 2017
Amazon valued its all-cash agreement at approximately $13.7 billion, including Whole Foods Market’s net debt. The acquisition closed on August 28, 2017.
Intel–Mobileye: $15.3 billion, completed in 2017
Intel’s own company history records that it acquired Mobileye for $15.3 billion, slightly above the original article’s rounded $15 billion figure.
Salesforce–Tableau: $15.7 billion in enterprise value, announced in 2019
Salesforce announced an all-stock transaction representing $15.7 billion in enterprise value, net of cash, for the analytics and data-visualization company.
Walmart–Flipkart: approximately $16 billion for a 77% stake, announced and completed in 2018
Walmart agreed to pay approximately $16 billion for an initial stake of approximately 77% in Flipkart. Because Walmart did not buy the entire company, this is not directly comparable with full-company acquisitions.
Nokia–Alcatel-Lucent: €15.6 billion, announced in 2015
Nokia valued the all-share transaction at €15.6 billion on a fully diluted basis. Nokia gained control in January 2016 and reached full ownership in November 2016.
Facebook–WhatsApp: approximately $16 billion at announcement, plus $3 billion in restricted stock units
Facebook announced approximately $4 billion in cash and $12 billion in shares, with an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units scheduled to vest after closing. The commonly cited figure near $22 billion reflects the increased value of Facebook shares by the time the transaction closed, rather than the $16 billion headline value at announcement.
Hewlett-Packard–Compaq: approximately $25 billion announced in 2001
HP described the proposed Compaq merger as a $25 billion transaction. After completion on May 3, 2002, HP recorded a total purchase price of approximately $24.2 billion.
Microsoft–LinkedIn: $26.2 billion, announced and completed in 2016
Microsoft announced an all-cash transaction valued at $26.2 billion, inclusive of LinkedIn’s net cash. LinkedIn retained its distinct brand and operating independence. The transaction closed on December 8, 2016.
SoftBank–Arm: approximately $31 billion, completed in 2016
SoftBank valued the acquisition at approximately £24 billion, then equivalent to about $31 billion. The transaction became effective on September 5, 2016.
IBM–Red Hat: approximately $34 billion, announced in 2018 and completed in 2019
IBM announced an enterprise value of approximately $34 billion and completed the acquisition on July 9, 2019. The original article conflicted with itself by referring later to a $32 billion deal.
Avago–Broadcom: $37 billion, announced in 2015
Avago announced $17 billion in cash consideration and stock then valued at approximately $20 billion, for total implied consideration of $37 billion. The combination was completed in February 2016 and adopted the Broadcom name.
Dell–EMC: approximately $67 billion, announced in 2015 and completed in 2016
Dell’s announcement placed an illustrative value of approximately $67 billion on the transaction, based partly on the assumed value of tracking stock linked to VMware. Dell Technologies completed the acquisition on September 7, 2016, not in 2015 as the original article implied.
What happened after the original article
On September 13, 2020, Microsoft announced that ByteDance had rejected its proposal. Microsoft therefore never acquired TikTok, and the hypothetical $50 billion transaction never existed as a completed deal.
The claim that Dell-EMC remained technology’s largest acquisition also became obsolete. Microsoft announced its Activision Blizzard transaction at $68.7 billion inclusive of net cash and completed it on October 13, 2023. Broadcom completed its VMware acquisition on November 22, 2023; its original announcement described approximately $61 billion in cash and stock plus $8 billion of assumed net debt. Those later transactions underscore the article’s central methodological lesson: rankings depend on the value definition chosen, and historical superlatives require dates.
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