No, Microsoft did not acquire Sony

The world today woke up to a bizarre piece of news. The headline that dominated the news today stated that Microsoft had acquired Sony with all its divisions, including Sony Music and its gaming division.

The ‘leak’ that came from a Spanish portal ‘Microsofters’ and translated into English by EN24 News stated that Microsoft Corporation had acquired rival conglomerate Sony Corp in an astounding $130 billion deal.

The report also stated that the deal entailed Microsoft acquiring various divisions of Sony Corp including Sony Pictures, Sony Music, PlayStation divisions, mobile phone division, its patents, and its camera and TV divisions. What made the report sound convincing, or at least somewhat convincing, was the mention of Microsoft’s VP of Gaming, Phil Spencer.

But as it turns out, the report is fake. Simply said, Microsoft has NOT acquired Sony.

There are many things that make the latter sound more reasonable than the former. Firstly, when the news broke, no major media platform picked the story that could easily have been the story of the year. Exchange4Media did pick the story up but the publication deleted it later. Secondly, even hours after the leak, neither Microsoft nor Sony have released a statement -- via a blog or social media -- about this alleged acquisition. Lastly, an acquisition of this level would require tons of regulatory approvals that don’t happen overnight. Safe to say that the news is indeed not true.

We have reached out to Sony for further clarifications. We will update this story as soon as we hear from them.