This is step 1 in trying to sell their flailing business. They obviously don't expect any more growth or they'd stick with running their own servers. Buyers want to know they can carve up the company easily, so migrating to a public cloud gives them some assurances this is possible. They're certainly hoping to get scooped up on their disintegrating brand awareness before there's no value left.
My company tried to buy them out. They responded:
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Thank you for your interest in acquiring Stack Overflow. Unfortunately, your proposal has been closed for the following reasons:
- Too Broad: Your offer attempts to encompass infrastructure, talent, branding, and existential philosophy in a single transaction. Please narrow the scope to a specific, answerable acquisition.
- Duplicate: This is a duplicate of several prior offers we've already declined. Please consult [closed: Why hasn't Stack Overflow sold out yet?].
- Opinion-Based: Statements such as “We think we’d be a good fit culturally” are inherently subjective and not suitable for this kind of transaction.
- Needs Reproducible Example: You’ve failed to provide a line-item financial breakdown, term sheet, or any working prototype of post-acquisition community support. We require a MCVE.
- Unclear What You’re Asking: “Let’s talk synergies” is not a clear action item.
- Off-Topic: We do not currently accept offers relating to the acquisition of community-driven Q&A platforms. This belongs on corporate-takeovers.meta.stackexchange.com.
- Contains AI-generated Content: While parts of your proposal were cleverly worded, we detected traces of ChatGPT hallucination. Please edit the offer to reflect your own due diligence.
If you believe this closure was in error, feel free to [edit] your offer to meet community standards and flag for moderator review.
With regards,
Stack Overflow, Inc.
“Not every problem belongs here.”
