When Phil Spencer took the helm of Microsoft's gaming division in 2014, he and newly appointed CEO Satya Nadella weren't sure if the company should keep investing in the Xbox, which was losing to Sony. Less than a decade later, Spencer and the Xbox are at the center of the software company's largest acquisition ever. Coyner, who left Microsoft in 2018, said he's confident that smart people at the company can explain the high price. He told an interviewer from gaming website Shacknews in 2020 that he only got to become head of Microsoft's gaming division because so many other people had left, and he was still there. In the most recent fiscal year, gaming revenue was $15.5 billion, accounting for 7.3% of total Microsoft sales.

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Persons: Phil Spencer, Satya Nadella weren't, Spencer, Don Coyner, it's Organizations: Sony, Activision, Microsoft, European Commission, Federal Trade, FTC, Nintendo Locations: U.S, San Francisco