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        <title>ZDNet Blogs</title>
        <link>http://blogs.zdnet.com</link>
        <description>ZDNet Blogs Focus: Microsoft-Yahoo</description>
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<title>Yahoo: Our board a lot less loved today</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9574</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:40:56 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9574</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Yahoo's shareholder meeting last Friday looked like a resounding victory for CEO Jerry Yang and Chairman Roy Bostock. The reality was a bit different. The company failed to tabulate the results correctly and was prodded to check the results after investors started griping. Suddenly, Bostock and Yang look a little less popular (statement and Yahoo coverage). To wit: Yahoo's original tally had 85.4 percent of shareholders voting for Yang with only 14.6 percent of shares withheld. The reality is that 66.3 percent voted for Yang and 33.7 percent of shares were withheld. Bostock looked like 79.5 percent of shares were voted for him with only 20.5 percent withheld. The reality: 60.4 percent voted shares for Bostock with 39.6 percent of shares withheld. Now a win ... ]]>
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<title>Icahn: I'm not showing up to Yahoo's shareholder meeting</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9508</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:12:49 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9508</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Talk about anticlimactic: Billionaire investor and proxy war ninja Carl Icahn isn't going to bother showing up to Yahoo's shareholder meeting on Friday. In a post, Icahn--newly muzzled courtesy of a deal he cut with Yahoo--writes: I will not be attending. The proxy fight is over and it will not do shareholders or Yahoo! any good to have the annual meeting turn into a media event for no purpose. Last week, I realized it was impossible to gain enough support from the large institutions to win a majority of the Yahoo! directorships. In today   s corporate governance system where large mutual funds control so much of the stock, it is extremely difficult to oust an entire board, no matter how strongly a large ... ]]>
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<title>Icahn says he can't</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9389</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:17:52 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Tom Steinert-Threlkeld</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9389</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Add Carl Icahn to the list of parties trying to figure out what to do with Yahoo! who can   t. If he had a solid idea of how to set Yahoo! apart from Google, in particular, or Facebook and MySpace, along the way, he would have  been able to make the case before capitulating and joining the Yahoo! board. Instead, his best idea is join Microsoft   s, Yahoo!   s and maybe AOL   s search business into one ball of queries. But even combining all that volume won   t let the second-tier three get close to Google. In May, Google commanded 61% of the domestic search business, according to Comscore. Losing the most ground: Microsoft. Also see: Yahoo, Icahn settle proxy fight: Assessing winners and losers Now,  the ... ]]>
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<title>Yahoo, Icahn settle proxy fight: Assessing winners and losers</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9386</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:28:23 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9386</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Updated below: Yahoo and billionaire investor Carl Icahn have settled their looming proxy war. According to a statement Monday, Yahoo's board of directors will be expanded to 11 members and one of those seats will go to Icahn. The two remaining seats will be filled based on recommendations from Icahn. In return, Icahn will drop his proxy contest and keep his ruminations about Yahoo to himself. The Icahn-Yahoo settlement isn't totally unexpected. For starters, Yahoo's upped its communications game in recent weeks and was likely to retain board seats--especially after Legg Mason said it would support the company against Icahn. And then there's historical precedent. In many respects, Icahn's settlement resembles what happened with Motorola. Icahn in 2007 launched a proxy fight for ... ]]>
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<title>Legg Mason takes Yahoo's side vs. Icahn; Yang takes campaign to home page</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9373</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:18:03 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9373</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Updated: Yahoo's argument that billionaire investor Carl Icahn is a short-timer with no clear plan to run the company has won over a key investor: Legg Mason. In addition, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang is taking the company's campaign to its home page. In a broadcast to employees today, Yang said the company will be aggregating its own audience to blast Icahn's plan. Here's a partial transcript of Yang's video, which was posted on the company's intranet and filed with the SEC. The Board, the senior leadership team, and I have been visiting with stockholders and financial industry analysts to articulate the continuing efforts to maximize the value of Yahoo!. You   ve also probably seen the letters we   ve sent to our stockholders outlining why ... ]]>
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<title>Yahoo: Icahn just a short-termer</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9353</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:14:27 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9353</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Yahoo once again delivered another shareholder letter Thursday designed to urge shareholders to vote for its board members at its Aug. 1 annual meeting. Yahoo's message: Billionaire investor Carl Icahn only has short-term interest n the company. In Yahoo Chairman's Roy Bostock's letter the company outlined the following: Icahn's average cost per Yahoo share is under $25 and he just wants to cut any deal he can to recover his money back quickly. Icahn is operating from a position of weakness by hopping in bed with Microsoft so quickly. Icahn can't make up his mind about what will work for Yahoo. Is it a Google search pact or Microsoft? We've heard a lot of this before, but the banter between Yahoo and Microsoft-Icahn is expected ... ]]>
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<title>Again, why does Microsoft want Yahoo?</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1483</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:58:56 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mary Jo Foley</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1483</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I've tried to keep my postings about MicroHoo to a minimum, as it's hard to separate the posturing from the reality. But after pondering this past weekend's latest back-and-forth -- where Microsoft offered yet again to buy Yahoo's search business and Yahoo tried to convince the Redmondians to come back and make another offer for the whole company instead -- I kept coming back to the original question about this whole transaction. Why does Microsoft really want Yahoo? (Or, more accurately at this point, Yahoo's search business, since Microsoft's days of wanting all of Yahoo thankfully seem to be over.) Update: Speaking of back-and-forth, here's Microsoft's take on what happened with Yahoo and investor Carl Icahn, which (not surprisingly) is quite different ... ]]>
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<title>Microhoo mudslinging: Icahn says Yahoo distorts facts of offer; Microsoft agrees</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9317</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:42:18 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9317</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Microhoo saga gets messier by the minute and will probably get worse as we near the Aug. 1 shareholder meeting where Carl Icahn tries to boot Yahoo's board and CEO Jerry Yang. We're back to dueling letters again and the saga is very messy (Techmeme). On Saturday night, Yahoo released a statement detailing an offer for its search business from Icahn and Microsoft. Yahoo called the offer inadequate, but excluded a few details. Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock said that if Icahn and Microsoft are serious they should buy the company for at least $33 a share. Icahn fired back Monday with more background about the offer to buy Yahoo's search business. Among the details according to Icahn: Yahoo would get a minimum ... ]]>
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<title>Yahoo rejects latest Microsoft-Icahn proposal; Calls Microsoft 'erratic'</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9299</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 13 Jul 2008 06:35:54 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9299</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Yahoo says it has rejected another offer from Microsoft and Carl Icahn. The latest offer, delivered Friday, was another gambit to acquire Yahoo's search business. Yahoo's overall message: If Microsoft is serious step up and buy the whole company "for at least $33 per share." Yahoo also said that it offered to negotiate an "improved search only transaction." According to Yahoo, Microsoft rejected both offers. Update:  The Wall Street Journal outlines some of the details of Microsoft's offer. Among them: Yahoo would hand over its search business to Microsoft for $1 billion in addition to a guaranteed annual payment of $2.3 billion for five years. Microsoft had offered a guarantee of three years before. Microsoft would also buy $3.9 billion worth ... ]]>
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<title>Microsoft-Yahoo on again?</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/?p=612</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:54:54 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Ed Burnette</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/?p=612</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Carl Icahn and Steve Ballmer announced plans today for Microsoft to acquire some or all of Yahoo if the current board was ousted in an upcoming election on August 1st. While they didn't come out and say it was a done deal, it does appear that Microsoft is still interested in either an outright purchase or acquiring Yahoo's search engine business that competes with Google. Larry Dignan summarizes the message as follows: "Boot Yahoo   s board at the company   s shareholder meeting on Aug. 1 and Icahn can pull off a deal with Yahoo. And Microsoft is interested." Other than catching "the one that got away" I'm still at a loss to explain why Microsoft is so interested. Yahoo has already battled with Google ... ]]>
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<title>Icahn, Ballmer pair up, talk Microhoo; Push to boot Yang and Yahoo's board</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9253</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2008 06:28:18 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9253</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Updated: Activist investor Carl Icahn and Microsoft are now in cahoots to toss Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and the company's board of directors. Icahn says in a letter that he has been chatting up Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer along with other key executives about how the two companies can "do a transaction together." In the letter, Icahn claims that Ballmer "made it clear to me that if a new board were elected, he would be interested in discussing a major transaction with Yahoo." For its part Microsoft confirms Icahn's account and says in a statement that "it would be premature to discuss at this time important details such as the price or other terms of a possible transaction." The message is clear: Boot ... ]]>
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<title>Microsoft's never-ending pursuit of Yahoo: More awkward than an 8th grade dance</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9231</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:55:57 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9231</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Microsoft still has the hots for Yahoo and now wants to enlist partners to win the target's search business. Yes, folks the Microhoo saga continues and boy are these two crazy kids awkward. According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is still trying to airlift the search business out of Yahoo and is enlisting Time Warner and News Corp. to make a run at Yahoo. The general idea is to break up Yahoo and pair non-search assets with MySpace or AOL. But the real meat of the story is the narrative behind Microsoft's courtship of Yahoo and how executives from these companies just couldn't get it right. Microsoft is hell-bent on buying Yahoo. Yahoo balks. Microsoft gets cold feet. Yahoo CEO ... ]]>
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<title>Yahoo posts Icahn scoreboard; Touts Google pact to shareholders</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9217</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:47:54 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9217</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Yahoo on Monday filed its shareholder pitch with the Securities and Exchange Commission as its proxy fight with activist investor Carl Icahn gathers steam. Much of the presentation was designed to "correct the record" on everything from the company's compensation plan to how the Microsoft bid went down. But Yahoo does make a new case that Icahn isn't exactly the panacea for shareholder value. Yahoo's presentation (statement, SEC filing, Techmeme) is coming off a week where it reorganized its operations under president Sue Decker. The reorg is designed to make Yahoo more responsive and the company is likely to hold up its latest efforts as a sign it is headed in the right direction. The company's presentation on Monday covered a ... ]]>
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<title>Yang's recovery runway: Months to days (and board should go too)</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9161</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:20:54 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9161</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It had looked like Jerry Yang would at least get a few months to prove he could right the listing ship that is Yahoo. Perhaps it's days now. The issue: Can you really turn a company around when the talent is heading for the exits at a rapid clip? TechCrunch is reporting that executive VP Qi Lu and senior VPs Brad Garlinghouse and Vish Makhijani are all leaving Yahoo (Techmeme). Earlier this week, Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake, founders of Flickr, left Yahoo. Jeremy Zawodny, Yahoo's technology evangelist, is leaving for Craigslist. Jeff Weiner, who ran Yahoo's network division, also split. In fact, tracking departed Yahoo execs has become a sport. With this revolving door it's pretty clear that Yahoo needs a sacrificial ... ]]>
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<title>Meet Jerry Yang, pinata</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9095</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:36:52 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9095</guid>
<description><![CDATA[So what's that water cooler conversation going to sound like at the Yahoo executive suite today? Probably something like this: Sue Decker: So Jerry how was your weekend? Jerry Yang: Not too bad. I didn't have to talk to Steve (Ballmer) so how bad could it have been. But I could have lived without the New York Times assault. At least Carl Icahn isn't kicking me. Overall though the weather was great. Icahn told Reuters that the Yahoo-Google ad deal has merit. To be sure, Icahn may be just trying to prop up his stake long enough to bail, but that's the closest Jerry got to any support this weekend. Here's what Icahn said to Reuters: "While the Google deal is not the same as ... ]]>
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<title>Yahoo: Does Jerry have to go?</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9089</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:39:08 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9089</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Yahoo got its wish. Microsoft is no longer a possibility as a purchaser. The company improves short-term results by partnering on search with Google. Carl Icahn may give up on his proxy war. And the company lives to fight another day--or at least until Aug. 1 when shareholders unleash their collective rage at Yahoo's annual meeting. The larger question: Can Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang survive? The Friday morning quarterbacking can be summed up with one word: Brutal. Also see: Google: Yahoo's savior?  I've been batting this question back and forth with Dan, who notes that Yang's tenure is just about a year old and it has been non-stop chaos. Using the "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" theory, Yang must be ... ]]>
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<title>Yahoo's Google ad deal: Savior or mistake?</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9084</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:21:54 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9084</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Yahoo has made it official: It is teaming up with Google on search advertising, but the ripple effects--both short-term and long-term--are just beginning. The two companies have announced a broad agreement where Yahoo uses Google's text advertising, but stops short of completely outsourcing search. Among the key parts of the deal: The Yahoo-Google partnership is non-exclusive and Yahoo controls the user experience and where the ads run. Yahoo will still use its own Panama marketplace when the monetization is comparable to what Google could provide. Google and Yahoo will make their instant messaging services interoperable. The agreement has a term of up to ten years: a four-year initial term and two, three-year renewals at Yahoo!'s option. Either party can terminate the deal in the event of ... ]]>
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<title>Yahoo nears Google search deal; Icahn's plan goes kaput as Microsoft talks end</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9080</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:06:43 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9080</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Yahoo is reportedly near a search deal with Google and plans an unrelated reorganization. Meanwhile, Microsoft says it's no longer interested in Yahoo. Add it up and billionaire investor Carl Icahn's grand plan to cash in on Yahoo just went kaput. First, the news. News.com's Stephen Shankland reports that Yahoo is near a search deal with Google (Techmeme). Update: Yahoo and Microsoft confirmed that talks have ended: In a statement Yahoo said: "Discussions with Microsoft regarding a potential transaction -- whether for an acquisition of all of Yahoo! or a partial acquisition -- have concluded." Yahoo added that there were numerous meetings with Microsoft and the software giant indicated that it wasn't interested in the company "even at the price range it had previously ... ]]>
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<title>Yahoo: Our poison pill isn't 'nuts'; Icahn guessing at plan costs</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9065</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:34:09 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9065</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Yahoo in an SEC filing fired its latest volley at billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn and defended its employee compensation plan. The company, embroiled in a proxy war with Icahn, outlined an FAQ that it sent employees. The key excerpts: Mr. Icahn says this Plan costs $2.4 billion. Is that what it actually costs? No. An estimate of the amount, if any, payable under the Plan requires making assumptions about unknown facts and variables including: (1) the number of employees who terminate employment without Cause or for Good Reason within the two years following any Change in Control, (2) each such employee   s job level and base salary, (3) the number of equity awards held by each such employee on their respective severance date, ... ]]>
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<title>Icahn miffed at Yahoo response; Has Google envy too</title>
<link>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9053</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:10:29 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Larry Dignan</dc:creator>
<guid>http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9053</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Another day another Carl Icahn to Roy Bostock letter. In this installment, our activist billionaire is annoyed by the Yahoo chairman's terse response to his previous letter. Hmm. Maybe these folks should just pick up the damn phone. Anyway, here's the letter. You can almost see Carl stomping around as he reads Yahoo's reply. Dear Roy: After reading Yahoo!'s press release put out on Friday in response to my letter of that morning, I cannot help but wonder if you even read my letter. Again, Yahoo! keeps repeating misstatements in the hope it will convince its shareholders that these misstatements are valid. I cannot understand why the Yahoo! board feels so strongly about its "poison pill" severance plan and why it continues to refuse to ... ]]>
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