More numerology from The New York Times

In a story today on Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter, The New York Times writes:

“Dealogic, a data firm, compiled for The New York Times a list of the top 10 biggest tech deals since 1995 by deal value. By that measure, Mr. Musk’s purchase of Twitter is No. 10. Microsoft’s $70 billion-plus acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which is pending, has garnered a fraction of the attention despite being No. 2.” 

The Times adds that “deal value is the price paid by buyer.”  The top deal listed was America Online’s purchase of Time Warner in 2000 for $112 billion.

Three questions for The Times:

(1)               Do the estimates adjust for:

a.       Inflation?

b.      Discounting—i.e., the fact that a dollar received today is worth more than a dollar received next year, because today’s dollar earns interest?

(2)               Is it kosher to compare pending deals to completed deals?

(3)               Why doesn’t The Times explain how it arrives at such figures?

--Leon Taylor, Baltimore tayloralmaty@gmail.com

 

Reference

David Streitfeld.  2022.  Elon Musk takes Twitter, and tech deals, to another level.  The New York Times.  October 28.