Microsoft to buy Netflix? It’s going to happen, according to this analyst

Microsoft will buy Netflix in the next few years, to shore up its content business and make sure it isn't left behind by its biggest rival in the streaming stakes, Apple. This is according to Wall Street media analyst (and former Rolling Stone publisher) Porter Bibb who has had some 40 years in the business predicting these things. 

Speaking to CNBC’s Squawk Box, Bibb believes that Microsoft is one of the few companies with deep enough pockets for Netflix and it would fill a massive content and platform hole the computing giant currently has. 

Lack of content

“[Microsoft’s] moving as fast as they can into the cloud business. They don't have any direct to the consumer content delivery," he explained.

"I think Netflix is going to be acquired by Microsoft, which doesn't have any content right now."

It may seem far fetched but there is some history between CEO Reed Hastings and Microsoft. Up until 2012 he was on the board at Microsoft, a position he held for five years, leaving to focus more on Netflix.

This was at the same time when Netflix was in turnaround, coming off the back of a share drop - due in part to the decision to split the DVD and streaming side of the business - and into the beginning of Reed’s Netflix vision that we all know about today.

Skip to today and Netflix is in rude health, shares are up 100% year on year and its valued around $140 billion. If Microsoft was to buy it, it would be one of its most expensive acquisitions ever, eclipsing its buy up of LinkedIn which was for a mere $26B.

It's just analysts being analysts for now, but Netflix is set to see significant competition when Disney enters the streaming market. We're not sure if Microsoft is the one to help it survive this ride but it would be interesting to find out.

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.

Latest in Netflix
Netflix Ads
Netflix adds HDR10+ support – great news for Samsung TV owners, but don't expect LG and Sony to do the same any time soon
Wonka poster
Netflix cooks up sweet new reality TV series based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and it's a dream come true for me
Eddie Miller (Stephen Graham) looks as his anxious son Jamie (Owen Cooper) in a prison cell.
Netflix's #1 show Adolescence is one of the best crime dramas I've seen – here are 3 more with over 80% on Rotten Tomatoes
Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore, swinging a golf club while a crowd watches
Netflix confirms Happy Gilmore's long-awaited comeback in new trailer, and I hope it won't be a swing and a miss
A still from Netflix's new miniseries Adolescence starring Stephen Graham
Adolescence is the TV show of the year – here’s why the Netflix crime drama had me gripped from start to finish
Sakata in Demon City holds a large cleaver-like weapon
Demon City on Netflix is Japan's answer to John Wick with a dash of Oldboy, and it rocks
Latest in News
Millwall FC The Den
The UK's first football club mobile network is here - but you probably won't guess which team has launched it
The Witcher 4
You're probably not playing The Witcher 4 until 2027 at the earliest, per CD Projekt's latest financial update
Apple iPhone 16 Pro REVIEW
The iPhone 17 Air looks impressively slim in this new comparison image, but that just makes me more worried about the specs
Matt Murdock smiling in Daredevil: Born Again episode 5 and Kamala Khan looking stunned in The Marvels
Daredevil: Born Again episode 5 just revealed what Kamala Khan has been up to since The Marvels, and now I'm more excited for the next superhero team to appear in the MCU
Google Pixel Watch 3, 41mm and 45mm
Google says it will fix broken Wear OS 5.1 update, but why does this keep happening?
DeepSeek
DeepSeek’s new AI is smarter, faster, cheaper, and a real rival to OpenAI's models