Icahn Won’t Add Value To Yahoo

In a letter to shareholders, Yahoo!’s Roy Bostock (Chairman) and Jerry Yang (CEO) have explained that the Microsoft offer will benefit Microsoft more than it will Yahoo!, and that Carl Icahn’s proposed new board won’t add value to the company. Read more

Exodus at Yahoo!

The recent exodus of senior Yahoo! staff has given rise to an interesting blogging exchange. With so many leaving at such a time, we are bound to wonder whether its because they’ve been poached by Microsoft, or Google, or perhaps a secret start-up which Microsoft OR Google can buy later… or whether its simply because Jerry Yang is under pressure to cut costs in order to satisfy the “lack of shareholder value” argument put forward by Carl Icahn.

Reading between the lines, I suspect Icahn has little to do with it, and it is more a case of the Internet protecting its precious own. Only a couple of days ago it was announced that Google were in high-end talks with Yahoo about matters beyond the current advertisement-sharing model. Unlikely to be a all-out takeover, analysts have predicted a rescue package which will start slowly and gather pace for mutual advantage.

Meanwhile, Yahoo’s shareprice has plummeted while Microsoft remain aloof and disinterested about their previous takeover bid.

Yahoo!’s recent departees have included Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake (co-founders of Flickr), Jeff Weiner, Usama Fayyad, Jeremy Zawodny and JR Conlin.

Each of them are giving no solid reasons for their departure, in fact Stewart Butterfield’s strange resignation letter only adds further intrigue to the riddle.

Watch this space… and listen out in a couple of weeks for an announcement of what they’re all up to.

The plot thickens. Do contribute with a comment if you know more…

Icahn’s Yahoo! Board Announced

Latest news in the saga for dominance of Yahoo!:

Carl Icahn has announced the nominees for his board of Yahoo!:

Mark Cuban – Sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo! in 1999 for $8.1 billion in stock.

John Chapple – Former CEO of Nextel Partners, with a telecommunications investment fund.

Lucian Bebchuk – Harvard Law professor and director of Harvard’s program on corporate governance

Edward Meyer – Former CEO of Grey Global Group, the worldwide advertising agency.

Keith Meister – Icahn’s own vice chairman. He was also added to Motorola’s board last month as part of the agreement to avoid a proxy battle with Icahn.

Brian Posner - Former CEO of asset management firm, Clearbridge Advisors LLC.

Adam Dell - brother of Michael, the founder of Dell Computers. He was previously a major shareholder of HotJobs.com, which Yahoo! bought for $439 million in 2002.

Robert Shaye – founder of New Line Cinema and still co-CEO.

Frank Biondi Jr – Former CEO of Viacom Inc. Also a director of Amgen, Cablevision Systems, Hasbro, The Bank of New York Mellon and Seagate Technology.

And the tenth member:
Carl Icahn himself – 72-year-old investor, and corporate shaker.

Icahn’s battle begins

As anticipated, Carl Icahn has begun his proxy battle with Yahoo!

In an open letter to Yahoo chairman, Roy Bostock, Icahn said the board had “acted irrationally and lost the faith of shareholders and Microsoft. It is obvious that Microsoft’s bid of $33 per share is a superior alternative than Yahoo’s prospects on a stand alone basis.” Read more