The fact that the next lowest bid was $4.5b lower (assuming all these facts are true) doesn't mean they overpaid by that much.
Firstly, if that was as far as Google were willing to go, and MS didn't go higher, Skype might not have been happy selling for that low, and might not have sold to anyone.
Secondly, depending on how the bidding worked, is it not possible that Google knew what MS had offered, and thought "we would have been willing to pay 7.5, but if they've offered 8.5 we won't bother bidding again"?
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 14.8 ms ] threadFirstly, if that was as far as Google were willing to go, and MS didn't go higher, Skype might not have been happy selling for that low, and might not have sold to anyone.
Secondly, depending on how the bidding worked, is it not possible that Google knew what MS had offered, and thought "we would have been willing to pay 7.5, but if they've offered 8.5 we won't bother bidding again"?