Sources: Microsoft is in talks to buy Discord for more than $10B; one source says Discord is more likely to go public than sell itself

Microsoft Corp. is in talks to acquire Discord Inc., a video-game chat community, for more than $10 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

Bloomberg 2021-03-23

Context & Ripple Effects

The reported approach places Microsoft alongside Discord’s broader exploration of a transaction valued above $10 billion. The central tension is already clear: a sale offers a near-term exit, while Discord is also weighing an IPO path.

The negotiations soon advanced to reported exclusive talks, but Discord later rejected Microsoft’s $12 billion bid and returned to IPO planning. Its subsequent funding round and later confidential IPO filing show that remaining independent became the company’s chosen route.

First-order effects

Microsoft and Discord enter high-stakes acquisition discussions at a price above $10 billion, putting Discord’s ownership and financing strategy under immediate review.
Discord’s stated preference for an IPO gives it an alternative to accepting Microsoft’s terms, rather than treating the reported bid as its only path.

Second-order effects

A credible public-listing option strengthens Discord’s position in negotiations with Microsoft and any other prospective buyer by making a sale only one of several liquidity routes.
Discord’s decision to reject the offer and later pursue funding at a higher valuation validates independence as a financing alternative, not merely a negotiating posture.

Third-order effects

The sequence points to large private consumer platforms using acquisition interest to test public-market readiness, with IPO planning preserving control when strategic-buyer terms do not meet their valuation expectations.
For Microsoft, the failed pursuit illustrates that buying a large online community depends on the target’s willingness to sell; capital-market access can keep such communities independent despite strategic demand.

The trend: Large private online communities are increasingly balancing strategic acquisition offers against independent funding and eventual public listings.

Discussion

@slasher Rod Breslau on x
also love how IRC is worth 10 billion dollars. true digital innovation https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@tomhillenbrand Tom Hillenbrand on x
When you wake up and your Discord group has suddenly become a Teams channel https://www.theverge.com/...
@business @business on x
Microsoft, which last year sought to buy social-media app TikTok and held talks to acquire Pinterest, has been shopping for assets that would provide access to thriving communities of users, sources say. More: https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@hardcoremetal89 @hardcoremetal89 on x
Microsoft after they buy Discord. No more talking for free, you need to pay $15 a month 😂😂. https://twitter.com/...
@devinkofsky Devin on x
I like Xbox a lot, but Skype, Mixer and to an extent Linkedin haven't done well under MS control https://twitter.com/...
@matthewkeyslive Matthew Keys on x
The only thing that will make this acquisition work is if Microsoft agrees to keep Discord platform-neutral, not make it exclusive to Xbox. https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@bfod Bennett on x
Looking forward to the sponsored Muppet emotes https://twitter.com/...
@vicious696 Parris on x
I can see it already, link your Xbox Gamertag to your Discord ID and get ready for baked in game chat across PC, console and mobile https://twitter.com/...
@mhdempsey Michael Dempsey on x
Secondaries were trading at north of $14B a few months ago so...i'm going to go ahead and say well over $10B. https://twitter.com/...
@turnernovak Turner Novak on x
This is a big deal. Discord's worth much more than $10b. Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are all obvious buyers Snap's a dark horse with hyper focus on Gen Z and recent moves in gaming Could be a fit for Tencent, ByteDance, Kuaishou (geopolitics aside) https://venturebeat.com/...
@waxpancake Andy Baio on x
Who will be Discord's new owner? Time to spin the Wheel of Disappointment! https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@mikebutcher Mike Butcher on x
Salesforce bought Slack. Microsoft already has Teams. So... Google? https://twitter.com/...
@goldenboyftw Goldenboy on x
I remember years ago hearing rumors that Twitch/Amazon was interested in Discord and then they bought Curse/Curse Voice. How insane would it have been if Twitch and Discord actually went through with that sale? Could you imagine the integrations? Madness. https://twitter.com/...
@bdsams Brad Sams on x
There are few companies that can afford that pricetag - Amazon, google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple - there are others too https://twitter.com/...
@daveoshry Dave Eternal on x
Can't wait to have to login to Discord with my Facebook account haha 🥺🔫 https://twitter.com/...
@imranzomg Imran Khan on x
There's no one with $10B to spend on a chat program that I'd feel happy is buying Discord https://twitter.com/...
@ambler @ambler on x
The inevitable might be happening, huh. My bets are on Microsoft if/when it does happen given how much they've been throwing at stuff lately. Not sure if any other company could be trusted by Gamers™ to keep it as an actually good platform long-term... https://twitter.com/...
@benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x
Should be an insta buy for Microsoft. https://twitter.com/...
@diction Nick on x
But you need to jump through these stupid hoops to maintain partnership because it's too expensive for us. Cool dude. https://twitter.com/...
@mdudas Mike Dudas on x
this is nuts @discord selling for $10 billion would be the “@instagram and @braintree/@venmo selling for $1 billion” of this cycle https://venturebeat.com/...
@prasanna Prasanna Srikhanta on x
👇10B would be cheap for discord. it's already community comms fabric for the internet. they have a bunch of different paths to go down to ramp up rev streams 🤔 https://twitter.com/...
@mrfeelswildride @mrfeelswildride on x
Microsoft is like 'sure we drove the last voip client we bought into the core of the earth, but that definitely wasn't our fault so this time will work out' https://twitter.com/...
@martinsfp Martin Sfp Bryant on x
Discord selling would be... odd at this stage in the company's life given its current trajectory. And depending on the acquirer, the deal could undo a lot of positive work the company has done in the field of online community building. https://venturebeat.com/...
@joshconstine Josh Constine on x
Discord is up for sale for over $10B — which is crazy-low given its strategic value... But Discord captures only a fraction of the economics of the purchases it influences, making it a smart fit for a game-buying platform like Microsoft, Epic, or Amazon https://venturebeat.com/..…
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
Amazon? Microsoft? Epic? https://twitter.com/...
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
I've always thought that Discord would be a perfect fit for Xbox / Microsoft. Discord has been the most valuable app I have on my PC throughout this pandemic https://twitter.com/...
@mehedih_ Mehedi on x
oh no another big corp is about to ruin one of my favorite apps how sad https://twitter.com/...
@thatguynamedtre Trey on x
Sony?? Microsoft?? WE NEED TO KNOW!!! https://twitter.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
When you remove Facebook cause of antitrust, the most logical buyer for Discord is definitely Microsoft https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@spawnwavemedia Spawn Wave on x
Wonder who's buying Discord 🤔 https://twitter.com/...
@neoash1 @neoash1 on x
“Acquiring Discord would turn the company from an independent firm serving all of gaming and other communities to one that serves a specific parent company, much like what happened with Amazon acquired Twitch or Microsoft acquired the (now-defunct) Mixer” Yeppp probably :/ https:…
@sarthakgh Sar Haribhakti on x
I feel like this is Google team that's in charge of coming up with new messaging apps every quarter https://twitter.com/...
@esthercrawford Esther Crawford on x
Discord is an amazing product and I have a lot of confidence in their leadership to do the right thing by the company — whether it's sell now or keep going https://twitter.com/...
@stefantziolis Stefan on x
ads, coming to a Discord server near you https://twitter.com/...
@migueldeicaza Miguel de Icaza on x
Well this is awkward. It was me. I offered 10 Bs as in “bitcoins”, but seems like some people thought that was 10 Billions. https://twitter.com/...
@notpatrick Patrick Beja on x
Microsoft or Amazon, right? Who else has that kind of cash and an interest in the space? It has to be a company with a platform, and I don't think the Chinese giants would be interested... My money would be on MS, even if honestly I'm not sure what they'd do with it (#Mixer). htt…
@kahjahkins @kahjahkins on x
Like I've said, the biggest winner in a sale like this would be gamers if they brought this service to consoles. It bridges the console to PC chat gap in a profound way that just makes sense and helps move things forward in a good way for the future. https://twitter.com/...
@sethpjohnson Seth Johnson on x
I'm putting my $AMC money on Salesforce. https://twitter.com/...
@yanivgraph Yaniv Tal on x
Great. Now an unnamed multinational corporation that none of us chose to use will have control of all these community servers and be able to decide who can say what to who. This is why we #Web3. https://twitter.com/...
@g27status Matty on x
Xbox/Microsoft is the perfect fit for this one. https://twitter.com/...
@jeffgrubb Jeff Grubb on x
Discord has a huge audience, but it's also an engaged audience of people who tend to spend a lot of money. That's worth a lot to a lot of different companies. Microsoft seems obvious fit except for maybe the memories of how it squandered Skype. https://twitter.com/...
@alexcartaz @alexcartaz on x
Hm Twitch (Amazon) seems like the best user fit? Maybe? Steam would make sense if they have $10B FB? Apple is sitting on a pile of cash and Josh Elman is or was on discord's board and recently started working at Apple, would be weird tho? Who do y'all think the buyer is? https://…
@brianoflondon @brianoflondon on x
Not your platform. Never invest time talent or treasure in other people's closed platforms which will never reward you for your efforts. https://twitter.com/...

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