Microsoft's CEO quietly took credit for Slack's success as the go-to workplace chat app: 'Would Slack have even existed' if not for Windows' (MSFT, WORK)

<p><img src="https://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5f885867ea23a5001903d8b9-2400/Stephen Brashear:Getty Images.jpg" border="0" alt="Satya Nadella" data-mce-source="Stephen Brashear/Getty Images"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shrugged off Slack's antitrust complaints against Microsoft and attributed some of the chat app's successes to free access to MicrosoftWindows <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-10/microsoft-ceo-says-big-tech-needs-clearer-laws-on-online-speech">in an interview with Emily Chang of </a><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-10/microsoft-ceo-says-big-tech-needs-clearer-laws-on-online-speech">Bloomberg Television.</a>&nbsp;</p><p>Nadella said, "Would Slack have even existed if it was not for the free access they had on top of, say, the Windows platform'"&nbsp;</p><p>The messaging app <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/slack-microsoft-eu-antitrust-complaint-teams-app-anticompetitive-2020-7">filed an antitrust complaint in Europe last year</a> over Microsoft bundling its Teams chat platform with Office 365.&nbsp;</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-2021-justify-slack-deal-industry-clouds-experts-2021-1'r=aw-sub">Salesforce will have to justify its $27.7 billion Slack deal in 2021, experts say, while adjusting to executive upheaval and growing competition</a></em></p><p>He continued: "They didn't have to call Microsoft. They didn't have to go through any of our app stores."&nbsp;</p><p>Among the tech giants, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-developer-rage-30-percent-app-store-tax-2020-6">Apple has faced&nbsp;backlash</a> over charging commissions for in-app purchases on its App store. In late 2020, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-app-store-fee-cut-purchases-commission-spotify-epic-match-2020-11">Apple marked the commission down</a> from 30% to 15% on in-app purchases for "small developers," as Insider reported.</p><p>Both Apple and Google <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-amazon-google-pass-costs-digital-services-taxes-2020-9">raised fees</a> they charge developers in some European countries in late 2020 to defray costs from new European taxes. Microsoft <a href="https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/store/register/">charges a one-time fee for developers</a> to register on its interface.&nbsp;</p><p>Nadella said to Bloomberg's Chang that Microsoft provides "the most open platform in Windows and even in Office 365."</p><p>Both <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/slack-7000-new-paid-customers-since-february-coronavirus-2020-3">Slack</a> and its competitor <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-teams-daily-active-users-2020-10">Microsoft Teams</a> have seen surges since remote work became the new normal during the coronavirus pandemic.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-slack-acquisition-merger-deal-2020-11">Salesforce acquired Slack</a> in $28 billion deal, the companies announced in December 2020.&nbsp;</p><p>Neither Slack nor Microsoft immediately responded to requests for comment.&nbsp;</p><p>Microsoft is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-satya-nadella-us-tech-firms-should-welcome-competition-2021-2">no stranger to antitrust complaints</a>. Prior to Nadella's tenure, then CEO Bill Gates <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-microsoft-antitrust-lawsuit-2019-6">faced down a federal antitrust case</a> in the early 1990s. In 1998, Microsoft was sued by the Justice Department. Initially, it was ruled that Microsoft should be broken up, but that ruling was later overturned.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-slack-teams-workplace-chat-apps-tech-2021-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-parasite-delivered-one-of-the-best-twists-in-cinema-2020-2">What makes 'Parasite' so shocking is the twist that happens in a 10-minute sequence</a></p>
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