Why US big tech probe is skipping Microsoft
Microsoft was once a company that was viewed as a piranha by federal regulators who ratcheted antitrust scrutiny.
The operating system maker evolved over the years into an innovative tech company that government regulatory watchdogs, who are now examining the world's biggest technology companies, paid less and less attention to.
Former Microsoft Vice President & COO Bob Herbold told FOX Business Microsoft can be classified as a distinctly different type of business than what you see in Amazon, Alphabet’s Google and Facebook.
“Microsoft, basically, is an infrastructure company,” he said on "Cavuto: Coast-to-Coast" Thursday. “Their customers are primarily companies, be they small, medium, or large, and they sell them operating systems for servers. They sell them cloud services.”
The Department of Justice announced an antitrust review of the big tech companies. Herbold said the government is trying to figure out the impact antitrust laws will have in a digital age where Amazon, Facebook, and Google are able to store data from its user experience. “I think they are in for real heavy weather, but the lawyers will also be trying to figure what antitrust law really is in this digital world,” Herbold said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP
Herbold joined Microsoft in 1994 as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Prior to joining Microsoft, he spent 26 years at Procter & Gamble.