Just as the Romans tried to kill Jesus because he was becoming too powerful, the EU is coming down on Microsoft like a ton of bricks. Its crime? Bundling Teams with Office. Unlike the Son of God, Microsoft is playing it safe, and will sell the two separately. Then again, no one ever threatened to fine Jesus 10% of global revenues.

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Microsoft to separate Teams and Office globally

Microsoft will begin to sell Teams separately from its wider Office product globally, as it faces increased antitrust pressure. The company added Teams to Office 365 in 2017 for free and it became popular during the pandemic, in part because of its video calling feature. But rivals have said packaging the products together gives Microsoft an unfair advantage.

The European Commission has been investigating Microsoft’s bundling of Office and Teams since a 2020 complaint by Slack. Microsoft had already capitulated in the EU and Switzerland, where it started selling the two products separately last year.

Microsoft has a long history of antitrust issues. In the 90s and 00s, it faced lawsuits for bundling Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player with Windows. In the past decade alone, the company has racked up €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion) in fines from the EU for tying or bundling two or more products together. If found guilty this time, Microsoft risks a fine of as much as 10% of its global annual turnover.

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