With the appointment of Frank Biondi, Jr. and John Chapple to Yahoo’s board of directors today, the last two slots on the board are now filled. Biondi, the former CEO of Viacom, and Chapple, the former CEO of Nextel, were both on Carl Icahn’s original alternate slate when he was still trying to replace the entire board. As part of his compromise with Yahoo, Icahn backed down from his proxy battle in return for three seats on the board.
After Icahn took his board seat following Yahoo’s shareholder meeting, the only question left was who would take the other two seats. One of them was initially reserved for former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller, until Time Warner pulled it out from under him. So the rest of Yahoo’s board chose Biondi and Chapple as the two least objectionable of Icahn’s henchmen. You really didn’t think they were going to vote for Mark Cuban, did you? Although, that would have been much more entertaining.
Now Icahn, Biondi, and Chapple (The Icahn Three?) can vote as a block, although they won’t be able to block anything outright on the 11-member board. But they are not there to block anything really. They are there to approve and encourage another deal that results in the sale of Yahoo.
What are your thoughts on things like SeaMonkey and BOSS? Does that have the chance of boosting Y! Search enough to support the rest of Y! in eyes of investors big and small?
You can’t be serious???
While “neat”, neither of those…nor Y!Live, Y!Kickstart, FireEagle, Y!Buzz, (insert failed product here) drive enough revenue or represent a game changing shift in the business to move the stock price.
Icahn, Yahoo, Icahn, Yahoo .. seems like a never ending discussion. I think that Icahn needs to focus on what’s good for Yahoo to bring that stock price UP!
http://blabtech.blogspot.com
Ka-Ka-Ka-Ka-ka Corporate Raider! Ka-Ka-Ka-Ka-ka Corporate Raider !
Lets tear this one apart and sell it piecemeal to the lowest bidder so that I can become even filthier in my richness.
At this point, I’m 150% with you!
Yawn.
Okay. So if these are henchmen, what does that make Ron Burkle, a playboy?
John Chapple was actually the CEO of Nextel Partners and my former boss. He’s a GREAT guy and a FANTASTIC leader. I think the employees of Yahoo should be happy because John is one of those guys who made sure we remained focused on 100% employee satisfaction. He’s quite opinionated and will make sure his voice is heard. John’s also a fan of a fast moving and efficient company, so I would expect more pressure from the board in streamlining operations and decreasing expenditures.
Good luck John and team! Nice choice Carl!
Warm Regards,
Scott Hardy
http://www.topclassactions.com