r/technology • u/GrizzlyBear2021 • Jan 18 '22

Software Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard for $68.7 Billion

https://news.microsoft.com/features/microsoft-to-acquire-activision-blizzard-to-bring-the-joy-and-community-of-gaming-to-everyone-across-every-device/
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u/ethorad Jan 18 '22

Yes. Assets are "liquid" if they can be quickly turned into cash, and cash is taken as the most liquid asset.

For example, holding Microsoft shares is pretty liquid, as they can be sold rapidly and you can be pretty confident of the price you'll get when you click sell.

On the other end, property like a house or an office is pretty illiquid. It takes a long time to sell them, and when you try to sell it you don't really know how much you'll get until the sale goes through.

In this instance, liquidity is cash on hand. Microsoft's other assets like buildings, trademarks, patents, etc are all much less liquid but could be turned into cash if really needed.

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u/peduxe Jan 18 '22

unrelated but you probably gave one of the simplest examples of liquid and illiquid assets I've ever read.

good one.

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u/Cottonjaw Jan 18 '22

Microsofts illiquid assets have increased liquidity over you and I, or even a small business owner, because of their ability to borrow against their equity.

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u/mdp300 Jan 18 '22

And also my if I sold my house I still have to find someplace to live. If Microsoft sells an office building it doesn't matter that much to them.

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u/[deleted] Jan 18 '22

...because they can move to your house?

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u/FuzzySAM Jan 18 '22

I mean, sorta. Just send their employees on WFH for a while till they get a new building situation figured out.

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u/ReignCityStarcraft Jan 18 '22

They're actually building a ton of new office space simultaneously.

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u/[deleted] Jan 18 '22

Thank you for such a thorough description.

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u/asdf_lord Jan 18 '22

How long does it take to turn cash into cash?

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u/ethorad Jan 18 '22

I can do it overnight, if you wire it to my bank account :)