Scoop: Microsoft under the MAGA microscope

Microsoft’s loss could be Oracle’s gain. Oracle was founded by longtime Musk mentor — and GOP megadonor — Larry Ellison.

Microsoft could find itself in MAGA crosshairs as the incoming Trump administration seeks to slash government with the help of Elon Musk, who has longstanding rivalry with Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. Microsoft board member Reid Hoffman and Gates spent tens of millions of dollars in 2024 between the two of them on efforts to defeat President Donald Trump, which could leave them on the outside looking in next year.

Due to a variety of factors, including what experts call “vendor lock,” the federal government has given Microsoft hundreds of millions of dollars in minimally-competitive contracts. “In one prime example of vendor-lock, the government spent $112 million more to buy Microsoft Office than Google Workspace in order to avoid perceived costs to switch,” government procurement expert Michael Garland wrote in a report.

Musk, who’s known both Gates and Hoffman for years, is now helming the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which could be bad news for Microsoft. While Musk’s relationship with both Gates and Hoffman has been strong in the past, after Musk’s recent shift to the right, he has accused both men of being on Jeffrey Epstein’s client list, and has poked fun at Gates’s weight.

“When is there not one – just one – even *attempted* prosecution of that Epstein (Bill Gates & Reid Hoffman come to mind) client list,” Musk tweeted this summer. “Either FBI does their duty or the case for an entire departmental reset or abolishment is strong.”

Microsoft’s loss could be Oracle’s gain. Oracle was founded by longtime Musk mentor — and GOP megadonor — Larry Ellison.