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Microsoft webtv logo Pint Glass - MINT 1996 - Very Rare!
Libby 16 oz Pint Glass with the Microsoft webtv logo
Mint - no flaws, never used, washed or handled. Stored since 1997 - See the pics
WebTV) was aweb accessproduct consisting of athin clientdevice that used atelevisionfor display (instead of using acomputer monitor), and theonline servicethat supported it. The original WebTV device design and service were developed byWebTV Networks, Inc., a company started in 1995. The WebTV product was announced in July 1996 and later released on September 18, 1996. In April 1997, the company was purchased byMicrosoft Corporation.
In February 1997, in an investor meeting with Microsoft, Steve Perlman was approached by Microsoft\'s Senior Vice President for Consumer Platforms Division, Craig Mundie.
Despite the fact that the initial WebTV sales had been modest, Mundie expressed that Microsoft was impressed with WebTV and saw significant potential both in WebTV\'s product offering and in applying the technology to other Microsoft consumer and video product offerings.
Microsoft offered to acquire WebTV, build a Microsoft campus inSilicon Valleyaround WebTV, and establish WebTV as a Microsoft division to develop television-based products and services, with Perlman as the division\'s president.
Discussions proceeded rapidly, involvingBill Gates, then CEO of Microsoft, personally. Gates called Perlman at his home on Easter Sunday in March 1997, and Perlman described to Gates WebTV\'s next generation products in development, which would be the first consumer devices to incorporate hard disks, including the WebTV Plus, and the WebTV Digital Video Recorders.
Gates\' interest was piqued, and negotiations between Microsoft and WebTV rapidly proceeded to closure, with both sides working around the clock to get the deal done -
On April 6, 1997, 20 months after WebTV\'s founding, and only six weeks after negotiations with Microsoft began,Craig Mundie announced that Microsoft had acquired WebTV.
The acquisition price was US$503 million, but WebTV was so young a company that most of the employees\' stock options had yet to bevested. As such, the vested shares at the time of the announcement amounted to US$425 million, and that was the acquisition price announced.
Each of the three founders received $64 million from the sale.
