Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is resigning from Yahoo’s board of directors. According to MarketWatch, he said “there was not a need at this time for an activist investor” at Yahoo anymore and that he’d rather focus on other companies. The subtext there being that either A) he feels that his work is done and he can move on now that the search deal with Microsoft is moving towards government approval, or B) he can make more money by trying to control some other company.
Icahn wrestled his way onto Yahoo’s board last year when Jerry Yang was still CEO. Initially, he wanted to try to revive Microsoft’s interest in acquiring Yahoo outright, but when it became clear Microsoft didn’t want to do that deal anymore, he supported the search deal as the best way to move forward.
It’s hard to determine whether Icahn is throwing in the towel on Bartz or this is actually a vote of confidence. If he really believes in where Bartz can take the company after the search deal is done, then you’d think he’d keep his board seat to have a stronger influence on the company’s direction. But Icahn has always been a transaction-oriented investor. He tries to push companies to do things that will move the stock in a big way, and then he takes his profits and he leaves.
More likely than not, Icahn doesn’t see another big shift he can push the company to take that will affect the stock in any major way. And with the stock price moving in the right direction, he probably doesn’t see the need to keep shaking the boat. It is much easier for him to just keep selling his shares (he sold almost $180 million worth in August alone) and move on. With the stock trading at $17, some of Icahn’s shares are still underwater, but he also bought a bunch at $10 last November. At this point, he’ll probably be happy just to get all of his initial investment back, which he is still far from doing.
(Photo by Sam Lustgarten)
His work is done?
Translation: He needs to get his ass out before this sucker’s rally fades.
PS: When time today does the MA scotch-induced rant post come out?
Or both A and B.
Know what price(s) he bought in at? Would be nice to know if he has made money and if so, how much.
Yes. His work is done.
I’ve been banished to the island of Lilliput.
he bought 50 million shares at $25/share
just because he’s resigning doesnt mean he’s selling shares so he hasnt lost any
Maybe he wants to short the stock? Its either going up, but it could always go down. But I’m not sure if as a Board member he can legally short the stock, that would be like trying to tank the company, when your job is to improve the stock price.
he has lost some, was unaware he sold around 16 mill shares when under $10
he can afford it though
Unaware? So confident for someone with so little substance.
Can afford it? How do you know? Are you his personal CFO?
sold? Did you read the article? It said “but he also bought a bunch at $10 last November.”
Is this Bartz’s first significant victory, then? good riddance for Yahoo?
you have to admit, things have improved at Yahoo! after his arrival to the board. I hope he joins the board of Microsoft next.
Agreed. Yahoo seems to have turned a corner.
This allows him more time to spend walking on the beach and thinking of his next move.
I’m hearing he’s taking aim at saving the firm CIT Group Inc., which specializes in providing retail companies with credit.
CIT group has already taken a government bailout, mismanaged that money, and are headed for bankruptcy if they can’t get bondholders to agree to a bond restructuring deal, which Icahn opposes. It appears that Icahn wants to make larger changes to the way the company operates as opposed to just shortchanging debtors.
The author of this piece seems to dislike Icahn’s MO, and given the Yahoo! management debacles, is a feeling that may or may not be warranted. I would argue that Yahoo! wasn’t in Icahn area of expertise. He’s done some amazing things for other companies.
The man is about greed and no concerns for the social fallout of his actions. It’s all about the almighty dollar.
People like him destroy great companies.
All what they care about are revenues , numbers , stock , etc.
How about looking to what Google is doing and forcing Yahoo management to do better job?
yahoo isn’t in the same market as google and needs to stop thinking that they are. working with MSFT will be a good move for their continued relevance.
shut up.
the thing your typing on, the blog you are reading, the browser you are using are all about “revenues, numbers, stock etc.”
Google? yea they’re about that too.
He just found a way to get his.
good. let him who is all about revenues, numbers, and stock destroy a “great” company that is about…. revenues, numbers and stock.
Yahoo laid quite a number of people off to reach the profit it is having. Revenue is down, thousands of people are laid off. I don’t think it is anyway a real accomplishment.
Yahoo is being shredded to pieces and become a smaller company.
Yahoo market cap is not going to be sustainable much longer.
While mass layoffs are horrible, having an entire company sink, thus laying off EVERYONE, is more horrible.
If Yahoo needs to be shredded apart to survive and become functional again, then that’s the decision that needs to be made.
What a jackass.
+1
This guy used to make a lot of news.
I’ve seen what the new yahoo home classic looks like and it seems to be alright. My question is, when will the new yaho home be in effect? I keep asking this question and not getting an answer, HELLO?!!!!