Wunderlist founder offers to buy back app from Microsoft

Wunderlist founder Christian Reber has offered to buy back the popular task management app from Microsoft to avoid it being shut down. “Still sad Microsoft wants to shut down Wunderlist, even though people still love and use it,” says Reber on Twitter. “I’m serious Satya Nadella and Marcus Ash, please let me buy it back. Keep the team and focus on Microsoft To-Do, and no one will be angry for not shutting down Wunderlist.”

Microsoft first acquired Wunderlist back in 2015, for a rumored price of between $100 million and $200 million. The software giant has since launched its own Microsoft To-Do app, and it’s clear the Wunderlist acquisition has been complicated. Wunderlist’s API runs on Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft decided to rewrite everything rather than attempt to port it directly over to Azure.

While Wunderlist is still functional, Microsoft has said it plans to shut down the app once all of its features are available in Microsoft To-Do. It’s not clear exactly when that will take place, but Reber is keen to avoid it happening at all. He has confirmed it’s a “serious offer,” but there’s no sign Microsoft is even willing to entertain the offer.