Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has reiterated a statement he made earlier this week suggesting that his company's bid to take over search engine provider Yahoo! is "a very fair offer".Mr Gates made that statement initially in an interview with Reuters, declaring: "We've sent our letter and we've reinforced that we consider that it's a very fair offer."
Yesterday evening (February 20th), during an interview at the University of Chicago, he went on to describe Microsoft's offer of $31 a share for Yahoo! as "generous", the Chicago Tribune reports.
He commented: "[Yahoo! has had the offer] for a few weeks now and I'm sure [it will] continue to think about it over the next few weeks."
"If they embrace it in a positive way, we think it will be a good thing for both of us."
Mr Gates added that Microsoft has a strategy to compete against rival firm Google on its own, but has decided to make an offer to Yahoo! in order to create a strong competitor "far more rapidly".
He added that, although no deadline for a decision from Yahoo! had been specified, he does not think Microsoft will keep the offer open indefinitely.
Mr Gates, who has generally taken a back seat over the possible deal, is set to retire from his day-to-day role at the company in June or July, according to a Microsoft spokeswoman.
