Story perspectives

Gen Digital Begins Early Talks to Acquire GoDaddy

By Drooid · Sep 24, 2026, 10:53 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Gen Digital entered early-stage talks to acquire GoDaddy.
Gen Digital’s market value of $15.7 billion compares with GoDaddy’s roughly $12.2 billion.
Gen Digital’s stock fell 7%, lowering its market cap to $14.6 billion.
GoDaddy’s shares rose over 13%, raising its market cap to $13.6 billion.
GoDaddy reported nearly $5 billion revenue and serves more than 20 million customers and 81 million domains.

History

Historical Context

Microsoft’s June 2016 purchase of LinkedIn for $26.2 billion—adding a platform with roughly 400 million users—continued a decade-long pattern of billion-dollar deals that bolstered its cloud and services portfolio, from Skype (2011) to GitHub (2018). In 2024 Gen Digital began talks to acquire GoDaddy, echoing Microsoft’s strategy of consolidating domain and cybersecurity assets to challenge rivals.

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Story summary

Gen Digital entered early-stage talks to acquire GoDaddy.
Gen Digital’s market value of $15.7 billion compares with GoDaddy’s roughly $12.2 billion.
Gen Digital’s stock fell 7%, lowering its market cap to $14.6 billion.
GoDaddy’s shares rose over 13%, raising its market cap to $13.6 billion.
GoDaddy reported nearly $5 billion revenue and serves more than 20 million customers and 81 million domains.

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