TechJournal

Bill Gates is making his last waves in the industry.  Scheduled for reitrement this coming june, Microsoft founder and chairman has commented on his company's latest fiasco with Yahoo.

After talks with Yahoo broke down, Microsoft withdrew from the dealing table and issued a statement and warcry that they were not interested in any other deals (so far) and that they will be pursuing an independent strategy.  These statements were echoed by Bill Gates at a press conference in Tokyo last Monday.

"Now at this point Microsoft is focused on its independent strategy," Gates told reporters at a news conference in Tokyo.

That was last Monday.  However, Kara Swisher of All Things Digital has a scoop that indicates Microsoft is planning to buy out (hostile if needed) Facebook.

Dubbed Project Granola,  Microsoft's failure to reach a deal with Yahoo is pushing them to look at other potential companies that would help them compte with Yahoo and Google (at least in the search market).

Microsoft's bankers have been shooting "subtle signals" in Facebook's direction, without expecting much of an outcome. "We just want to gauge their interest, more than any real effort," a shadowy financial type told Swisher, adding that he or she doesn't think Facebook will budge from its desire to eventually go public.

It may be possible that Microsoft's appetite for something like Yahoo can be found in other big web names like Digg, LinkedIn or whoever.  So far these rumors aren't confirmed and we're trying to get the insider's look. 

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