Run a competitive process, not a bilateral talk
In the Spirit Airlines records auction three qualified bidders took Google's $5.0M opening bid to a $10.0M winning bid in about two and a half hours, and a fourth buyer (micro1) later filed $12.5M, a 25 percent premium over the winner.
Dated 14 Sep 2026Source checked 11 Oct 2026Quote found on its page again 17 Oct 2026Basis: strong
“The auction commenced by remote teleconference, was moderated by Davis Polk and PJT Partners, and lasted approximately two and a half hours ... Google's opening bid was $5 million in cash”
Chapter11Cases: The Spirit Airlines deidentified data sale, auction results, objections and the September 30 hearing, checked 13 Sep 2026
Everything read from this source (18)Archived copy, 6 Oct 2026
Fortune: micro1 tries to beat Google's bid to buy bankrupt Spirit Airlines data for $12.5 million, checked 14 Sep 2026
Everything read from this source (10)Archived copy, 6 Oct 2026
- A bankrupt airline's entire corporate archive (Spirit Airlines)
- Spirit Airlines' de-identified internal records (Microsoft 365 email, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, employee records), Google's opening auction bid
- Spirit Airlines' de-identified internal records, Mercor's later bid conditioned on in-house de-identification
- Spirit Airlines' de-identified internal records, Mercor's first-round alternative conditioned on de-identifying with its own tools
- Spirit Airlines' de-identified internal records, Mercor's first overbid on Google's terms (third-party de-identification)
- Consumer privacy ombudsman (Lucy L. Thomson) and Google; Spirit Airlines: legal or policy, bankruptcy-estate corporate archive (de-identified enterprise data: email, Teams, files, tickets, code)
It is shown on its own, not counted into a figure.
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