Nokia CEO: There are “absolutely no discussions” with Microsoft on buyout

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop appeared at D9 today and told Walt Mossberg that rumors of a Microsoft buyout of Nokia are completely baseless.

The rumor flared up earlier today, suggesting that Microsoft may have been preparing to drop a whopping $19 billion on the company, a far greater sum than was spent on its recent Skype purchase.

“We typically don’t comment on rumors. But we have to say that Eldar’s rumors are getting obviously less accurate with every passing moment,” Nokia’s Communications Director Mark Squires tweeted at the time, although the rumor continued to circulate throughout the rest of the day.

But coming from the mouth of CEO Elop himself, that’s one rumor we can consider squashed.