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Bill Gates says he would support dumping Microsoft’s Xbox unit

Updated May 6th, 2014 9:50PM EDT
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Should it stay or should it go? When it comes to Microsoft’s Xbox business, that recurring question continues to haunt Microsoft executives. Investors have been making the case for breaking off the company’s Xbox division for some time now, and Xbox gamers continue to become enraged whenever the idea is mentioned. Now, Microsoft co-founder and former CEO Bill Gates has weighed in.

Speaking with Fox Business Anchor Liz Claman, Gates said that he would definitely support spinning Microsoft’s Xbox business into a separate company in the event that new CEO Satya Nadella made the decision to do so. “Absolutely,” he said when asked if he would support Nadella if such a decision were made.

Gates did not address whether or not he personally feels Xbox should be broken off into a new company.

While the living room is seen as one of several areas where Microsoft will have to compete in order to thrive in the future, Xbox has not historically been a big moneymaker for the company. Spinning the division into a new company could allow Microsoft to increase its focus on areas that have been thriving, such as Office and cloud solutions.

Updated to correct the wording of Gates’s response, which was incorrectly quoted by Claman.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.