Update: Microsoft says “Our position hasn’t changed. Microsoft has no interest in acquiring Yahoo!; there are no discussions between the companies.”
An off the cuff remark by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer this morning set Yahoo’s stock soaring more than 15% to $13.73, adding well over $3 billion in market cap to the struggling company.
Speaking at the Gartner ITXpo, Ballmer reportedly said a Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo (presumably he’s talking about a full buyout, not the repeatedly rejected search deal) would still “make sense economically” for both companies shareholders.
But he also cautioned that Yahoo is no longer worth the $33 per share originally offered: “Ballmer said that even with the recent drop in Yahoo’s share price, the company “probably thinks its still worth as least as much today,” as when Microsoft made its offer.”