According to TechCrunch's sources, the idea to buy Slack came from Qi Lu, Microsoft's Executive Vice President, Applications and Services Group, which is in charge of divisions like Bing, Office 365 and Skype. The report states: "Microsoft eyed Slack as a potential acquisition target for as much as $8 billion, TechCrunch has heard. But an internal campaign around making an offer failed to drum up support. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and CEO Satya Nadella were among those unconvinced by the idea, with Gates pushing instead to add more features into Skype to make it more competitive with Slack in the business market, our source says."