Microsoft pulls out of MSNBC.com, sells stake to NBC
By Michael Liedtke, Associated Press7/16/2012
The breakup announced late Sunday dissolves the final shreds of a 16-year marriage between Microsoft and NBC News, which is now owned by Comcast. The relationship began to unwind in 2005 when Microsoft sold its stake in MSNBC's cable TV channel to NBC.
NBC is buying Microsoft's 50% interest in the MSNBC website for an undisclosed amount. MSNBC.com will be rebranded as NBCNews.com, and readers who logged into MSNBC.com late Sunday were automatically redirected to NBCNews.com.
The website will move its headquarters from Microsoft's corporate campus in Redmond, Wash., to NBC News' home in New York.