Not to be outdone by Murdoch and his slew of MySpace announcements, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has made some pretty big announcements today at the Web 2.0 Conference, speaking on Microsoft's plans to acquire 20 companies per year for the next five years, ranging from $50 million to $1 billion, reports Venturebeat.
That's quite a statement, but not entirely surprising. I haven't kept count of the number of companies Microsoft, or even Google, has snatched up this year alone, but this sure will garner a lot of attention from the entrepreneur and investor community, seemingly eager to feed the Microsoft beast. Will the wounds left from the '90s still be open, from Microsoft courting startups and then launching its own competing version instead of completing an acquisition?