Last week Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang literally dropped off the grid for a couple of days, leaving his top execs (other than, presumably, President Sue Decker) in the dark. As I wrote on Saturday, no one could locate Yang, and, given the sheer number of high level departures and looming reorganization, those remaining in their jobs were basically freaking out.
As the weekend progressed it seemed clear that anything was possible. More than a few people saw Yang stepping down, with a new CEO stepping in. Other theories (all coming from Yahoo senior ranks) predicted anything from a merger, restructuring, asset sale, etc. Saturday was the low point; fear was rampant.
Then Yang reappeared, with a renewed determination to stay in power, fight off all these new activist shareholders and keep the status quo, say people close to Yahoo. No one seems to know exactly what happened to turn him around, but they say he’s digging in and keeping up the fight to keep Yahoo at least partially independent.
Today’s letter to shareholders was a not-so-subtle way of showing that Yang remains in control of the company, and retains the confidence of his board. And the board of directors also retains confidence in itself, apparently: “Your Current Board of Directors Has the Knowledge, Experience and Commitment to Best Represent Your Interests and Maximize Stockholder Value.”
Microsoft Negotiations Heating Up Again
Microsoft is fighting for Yahoo in two ways - First, they’re denying that any talks are occurring in the hope of keeping Yahoo’s stock price down. This keeps the PR people busy as they field calls and answer direct questions indirectly. Meanwhile, a contingent of Microsoft and Yahoo insiders, desperate to marry these two companies, keep telling us that negotiations are very much alive, even if not officially recognized.
It’s Orwellian, but everyone knows Microsoft and Yahoo are talking, but since they officially aren’t talking, we’re not supposed to report on it. Meanwhile, the discussions go on.
So what kind of deal are they not talking about? It could be a full buyout. Or it could be a partial buyout tied to that fugly search asset acquisition deal Microsoft put on the table after merger talks broke down. One person close to the negotiations pegged a full buyout by end of year at 60% likely.
What about that Google deal? Well, it turns out there’s no penalty at all if Yahoo simply never implements it. Google can terminate the agreement, but there’s no downside to Yahoo. If Yahoo sells itself to someone they have to pay a steep $250 million fee to Google. But an interesting detail: Microsoft can buy up to 35% of Yahoo without triggering that $250 million penalty fee to Google. See the full analysis in our previous post.
Please someone just buy the damn company.
Perhaps I should start a fund SomeoneBuyYahooPlz.com
Donate money to the fund using PayPal. I’ll pitch in $100 myself, so the fund only needs $330,000,900,00 more…
Let me know if you are interested
Yasnooze. Feeling snarky this morning.
Are you sure he is back.. I never thought the guy was all there in the mind to begin with ha
http://www.crunchnow.com/
Jerry’s Predicament and The Tumultous Yahoo Safari.
Rajeev Vashisht
http://tekno-world.blogspot.com
Michael Its starting to seem you’re a little er…. Obsessed (with Jerry) .
The guys at Yahoo must be pretty edgy at the moment.
Microsoft cannot survive without Yahoo
Chris - I am. I love him, I just want him to do better.
Does TechCrunch news like this effect the stock price?
I can see Mike or his friends or the other people at Techcrunch doing some serious day trading on a low Yahoo stock price then issuing insider info some Yahooer emailed to them telling of secret MS/Yahoo talks, watching the Y! price go back up then selling quickly before it goes back down.
Is there some regulation which would prevent this?
How can we be sure they are not doing this in their own personal financial interest?
We wrote about the Yahoo-Microsoft romance novel here:
http://www.techcult.com/when-m.....nce-novel/
Chris they most likely are I know it’s all a numbers game and they know numbers well.
http://www.crunchnow.com
Hope we see a final call on this sometime soon ….
Y! (and Jerry Y!) will continue to surprise the world… (what else?!)
Sounds like Jay-Z and Beyonce to me.
@11, shouldn’t that be a form of insider trading?
Traditional insider trading means you cut the stock short on information you obtained by being on the inside of a company, or knowing somebody that is, IE Martha Stuart.
Wouldn’t being privy to insider info via emails from rats at Yahoo, then publicizing said info on a popular publication, then trading stock based on that be insider trading as well?
Maybe journalists and bloggers that are “popular enough” should be prohibited from trading. Even then though they could do this on the behalf of others.
Just a thought.
Fear was rampant? Are you kidding? A mystery writer you are NOT my friend. Stick to smarmy gossip, willya?
screw microsoft, Yahoo and Google. Play fun games at HarryBalls.com
We don’t like playing games Tabitha,got anything to make some cash at and maybe I will crunch it
http://www.crunchnow.com
Yang spent the weekend hunkered down at Tony Robbins’s house. That’s where he got his motivation.
Here we go again! Looks like this circus won’t top until someone actually buys the darn thing.
sounds like tommy and pamela. owners of billion dollar companies never lose. same house, car, family….there lifestyle can never be affected. its only a mental loss for billionaires. poor fellas. lets all feel sorry for them.
Karma-what goes around comes around. remember the guy yang helped put in prison 8 years for speaking his mind about china. maybe this is proof that karma can kill?
I think that by this autumn Jerry will no longer be in pole position at Yahoo.
This is my point of view.
Or maybe he is too blind to see that Y! is going down down down under his command.
don’t worry, jerry - even the captain of the valdez has a job somewhere…
Jerry’s ruby slippers are being auctioned on eBay today.
Lets hope no one caps him for being him!
Michael,
What do you think? Will Yahoo sell itself to Microsoft?
Options: Yes/No.
I bet this would actually work, and it would be super funny if a bunch of internet users bought yahoo but microsoft couldn’t…lol
sent from: fav.or.it [FID309739]
Arrington, will you please get a life already?
Your jealousy at never being a CEO of a company that hasn’t failed and bitterness is tedious, and so is your incessant gossiping.
http://searchengineland.com/080620-094239.php
No they won’t sell completly
Me Me Thought mike owned techcrunch?
@9: Chris, I don’t think it’s beneath an Atherton lawyer to short a stock (say: YHOO) then spread gossip and ridiculously false analysis to make a quick buck.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was some watermarking technology for company information?
That way you could find the leak easily. IE, MiniMicrosoft, ect….
That would be a VERY profitable venture to invest in.
Firewalls and filters can only get people at work. A new tech that would nail people EVERYWHERE would be ideal.
Someone ban this crunchnow idiot already…
Dirty spammer your site is lame ok?
YES!! WHOOO HOOO!! He must have had a nice break away and now he is full of zen. I hope he can ralley the team again! I am pulling for you Jerry. Hope to see you at the Googleplex…stop on by for lunch.
Chris Sack Whats your problem forgot your meds?
@meme, You moron, MA hired a CEO to run his operation and he has said he doesn’t trade stocks (only has mutual funds)
@chris, Yeah, it would be great if we could track everything and live in a Brave New World [/sarcasm] - moron #2
@Chris Sack, agreed- crunchnow is moron#3
@1…
ok, so you think you can buy yahoo for 330 million???? or were you trying to write 33 billion???
as to chris, and your comments regarding insider trading.. my god man, go take a simple course in business law, or go read the sec regs regarding insider trading. but please stop dealing in this kind of psuedo knowledge crap.
insider trading is really/simply defined as a person who has a fiduciary responsibility to the company/shareholder, who then trades on information that the person obtains prior to the information being made public. in some instances, the fiduciary relationship can exist with an external person, even though the person doesn’t work for the company in question. ie, the case of someone who works for the company, and gets information and then trades on the information.
while i’m not a lawyer, the “emails”/information that mike gets would in all probability not cross the threshold of establishing mike as having a fiduciary responsibility. now one could accuse him of doing a pump/dump.. except he’s never really pumped yahoo now has he…
peace…
a person wi having access to
Re Yahoo / Jerry Yang — Leave the guy alone!
Mike, great going! You have turned this blog into the TMZ of the IT space… What is next? Britney and her iPod???
Keep it up and you will end up with egg all over your face - In fact, the Michael Arrington “brand” keeps losing credibility as you keep writing crap, “reporting” that there is nothing to report! Please!
His behavior is highly unusual. The stock is down 4% in five days. The value destruction continues. If you are looking for a fairy tale, go to the library.
I wonder what’s going to happen if this round is going to fail again - I better save my starbucks money for the next couple of weeks so I can take over Yahoo! after that
Apparently, lots of yahoos read this blog and are getting mad.
Yawn !! This Yahoo and MS story is getting boring now.. I hope it can wind up soon
Hell Yeah! I’d totally rock yahoo! They’re punk rock hardcore. Go Jerry!
Arrington - Listen to Kara Swisher (a real blogger journalist) and don’t report unsubstantiated rumors. Is this your attempt to defend yourself against her attacks? What happened to journalistic integrity?
@37, thanks for what I wanted to tell michael. Enough is enough. If something happens to Yahoo! or if Microsoft buys Yahoo!, we will know it from the mainstream media. That’s better and genuine.
There is absolutely no way Google would ever be allowed to purchase 35% of yahoo - impossible. It would never get cleared. The only intelligence of this deal, from a Yahoo perspective, was the fact that they are not completely locked into an agreement, although, $250M is some serious cash to have to dish is they terminate the deal
Check it… http://www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2
-J
My moneys on a full buyout of Yahoo!
Honestly this is growing old, I don’t care how many times yang tries to fight back, yahoo is like a chew toy being fought between two big dogs (obviously google and microsoft). Just sell already, silence the angry shareholders, quiet the critics, replace yang as ceo, give microsoft its 35% google its 65% and bury the dead. over and done.
Everyone is saying it. You say it with me too
YAHOO IS GOOGLE’S BITCH NOW
@44 that will happen when you consider a blogger an Journalist. (THEY ARE NOT JOURNALIST)