The Members Forum

This just heard: Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer had breakfast this week in San Francisco with Twitter’s Dick Costolo, who recently took over the top dog spot from co-founder Evan Williams.

Could this mean Microsoft is interested in doing some sort of deal with, or even buying, Twitter?

Microsoft has struggled to gain presence on the Web. That potential takeover of Yahoo fell apart, then turned into a partnership. Sure, search engine Bing has gained market share. But Twitter would give the Redmond giant instant grasp of a flourishing Web communication destination, and credibility in tech circles.

It wouldn’t hit Microsoft’s bottom line as quickly. Twitter isn’t known for its profitability, or even revenues. Yet a deal would appease some Microsoft investors and analysts who believe Ballmer hasn’t been bold enough with all that cash.

A deal with Microsoft for Twitter, meanwhile, could mean fewer nagging questions about its money-making plans. Costolo was elevated from within Twitter (previously he was COO) presumably to get closer to scaling the company as a viable business. He has been Twitter’s public face in talks about advertising on the site. Previously Costolo was a management consultant, and worked as an advertising product manager at Google.

Blogs.forbes.com has the article HERE !