By Kat Stoeffel 4/09/12 7:47am

Corporate

aol

AOL Unloads Hundreds of Patents to Microsoft for $1 B., Arianna Huffington ‘Doesn’t See’ Power Expanded There

AOL  will sell more than 800 patents to Microsoft in exchange for $1.056 billion in cash, the company announced today. The dial-up giant retained patents of 300 “core and strategic” technologies, which it will non-exclusively license to Microsoft in the same deal.

The auction for the patents began last fall, part of the company’s long term plan to “unlock value” for shareholders. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2012, and the company says it plans to return a significant portion of the proceeds to shareholders.

Meanwhile, WWD caught AOL and Huffington Post editor Arianna Huffington at her book party for Kathy Freston (Ms. Freston introduced Ms. Huffington to her business partner Kenneth Lerer), to find out how she felt about about her growing influence at AOL. Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen 10/18/11 10:15am

The Power Broker

Lisa Kiell has inked deals for Cisco Systems, Microsoft and BBC

The Number Cruncher: The JLL Powerhouse on Her BBC Deal

When the British Broadcasting Corporation began its search for new office space for the executive and sales staff in Manhattan last year, its focus was on finding space that had a newsroom feel, free of the labyrinthine private offices and barriers so common among law firms, doctors’ offices and corporate accounting firms.

Like the bullpen made famous by Mayor Bloomberg, the company envisioned a Manhattan office with open space that would inspire transparency and collaboration while eschewing privacy. Read More

By Elise Knutsen 10/03/11 3:05pm

Manhattan Transfers

paul-allen

Paul Allen Gets $25 M. Windows on UES

Perhaps Paul Allen was missing some of that West Coast sun. The co-founder of Microsoft just purchased the  penthouse at 4 East 66th Street, which comes with a giant roof terrace where he can catch some rays.

Mr. Allen paid a whopping $25 million for the home. It appears he will be expanding like a mid-90′s Microsoft, as Mr. Allen already owns the 11th floor apartment at the tony Fifth Avenue co-op, which he reportedly purchased for $13.5 million in 1996. Read More

By Mike Taylor 11/09/10 2:49pm

Transparency

Andrew Ross Sorkin Wants His Press Releases, Dammit!

In last night’s DealBook (or rather “Dealb%k“) column, The New York Times‘ Andrew Ross Sorkin wonders whether the Securities and Exchange Commission is undermining corporate transparency by allowing companies to post market-moving information (quarterly earnings, for example) on their websites instead of distribute it through more traditional means like press releases. Says Sorkin:

If Read More

By admin 10/13/10 7:14pm

Mark Zuckerberg: Microsoft Is “The Underdog” [Video]

What a difference a few years makes! Remember when Microsoft was a monopoly set to take over the world? It was awhile ago.

Today, Microsoft announced a deep integration between its Bing search engine and Facebook, and Mark Zuckerberg took the stage to say a few words.

He pointed out that the two companies have Read More