microsoft-yahoo

T. Boone Pickens dumps Yahoo stake

Yahoo dipped below $20 a share Tuesday morning, following a report in the San Francisco Chronicle that T. Boone Pickens dumped his entire stake of 10 million shares.

Shares of the Internet pioneer fell as low as $19.71 in morning trading, coming within a breath of the $19.18 that the stock closed at on the day before Microsoft announced its unsolicited buyout bid of $31 a share. Microsoft later bumped it up to $33 a share, which was rejected.

Pickens jumped into the stock in May, following an announcement by investor activist Carl Icahn that he would wage … Read more

Microsoft's online strategy: Trust us

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft went into more detail Thursday about its online spending plans, but offered few new details on just how it plans to catch Google.

In his remarks to financial analysts, CEO Steve Ballmer acknowledged that, in the search business, the company faces the challenge of needing to boost the number of search queries, attract revenue per share and boost revenue. While Yahoo would have offered a clear way around that Catch-22 by boosting Microsoft's advertiser base and query volume, Ballmer insisted he had other ideas besides a deal with the Silicon Vallery Internet company,

"There are … Read more

Microsoft CFO: Yahoo a 'declining asset'

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft CFO Christopher Liddell said Thursday that Yahoo is a "declining asset" and that the chances of a full-on acquisition are now "negligible."

Liddell elaborated on CEO Steve Ballmer's earlier comments, saying the company went into its bid "totally genuine" but soured on a deal because it was taking too long. He called Yahoo a "declining asset."

"Time passed and value eroded," he said. "I think the chances of us buying Yahoo...are so small that they are essentially negligible."

A search deal, he said, … Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: MS, Ballmer ready to up the online ante

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer stepped onstage Thursday to tell an assembly of Wall Street analysts and reporters that, Yahoo or no Yahoo, the company plans to continue to invest until it achieves greater scale in online services.

Speaking of Yahoo, CNET News' Leslie Katz interviews Mark Stevens, author of King Icahn: The Biography of a Renegade Capitalist, to find out what has pushed this activist investor to challenge the powers that be. And Webware's Rafe Needleman wraps context around Facebook's bevy of announcements, including the social-networking company's renewed commitment to engage its development community.

Listen now: Download today's podcast … Read more

Ballmer: No current talks with Yahoo

REDMOND, Wash.--CEO Steve Ballmer said Thursday that its on-again, off-again talks with Yahoo are firmly in the "off-again" phase.

The two sides have talked on and off, he said, first about a purchase and then about a search deal.

"Now we aren't (talking) and that's where things are," Ballmer said, speaking at Microsoft's financial analyst meeting here. "There is nothing under discussion between the two of us."

Ballmer's comments followed an earlier discussion of the continued investment (losses) that Microsoft expects as it spends money in its online business. … Read more

RiskMetrics recommends re-election of current Yahoo board

Updated at 2:16 p.m. PDT with comments from RiskMetrics' Patrick McGurn and Yahoo shareholder activist Eric Jackson.

Yahoo's current board of directors received an endorsement Thursday, when influential advisory service RiskMetrics Group recommended to its institutional investor clients to vote for all of Yahoo's directors at the upcoming annual shareholders meeting.

That recommendation runs counter to one issued the day before by Glass Lewis & Co., another institutional investor advisory service that makes recommendations to pension funds, mutual funds and asset management companies on how to vote on issues contained within companies' proxies. Glass Lewis, as … Read more

Yahoo president 'looking forward' to meeting Icahn

Yahoo President Sue Decker has taken the high road. In a CNBC interview that aired Wednesday, she said she looks forward to meeting investor activist Carl Icahn when he joins the company's board and would "love to get his advice."

Icahn, who reached a settlement with Yahoo earlier in the week, agreed to halt his proxy fight in exchange for being appointed to the board after the company's August 1 shareholders meeting. Yahoo also agreed to expand its board to 11 members and select two directors from a list that Icahn provided.

In the past two … Read more

Glass Lewis advises against re-electing 3 Yahoo directors

An advisory service to institutional investors issued a recommendation Wednesday that its clients vote against the re-election of three Yahoo directors.

Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and directors Ron Burkle and Arthur Kern, all of whom sit on the compensation committee, received a thumbs down from influential institutional investor Glass Lewis & Co.

Glass Lewis, as well as RiskMetrics and Proxy Governance, issue recommendations to their clients on how to vote on proxy matters. These clients include mutual funds, pension funds, and asset management companies, which often hold large blocks of stock in various companies.

Glass Lewis is advising its clients … Read more

Icahn recounts thought process behind settlement

While some folks were enjoying the summer sun and taking a vacation, investor activist Carl Icahn showed that the life of a shareholder activist can be 24-7.

In his blog post Tuesday, Icahn recounts how he spent last weekend hammering out a settlement agreement with Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and CEO Jerry Yang, ending a contentious proxy battle between the parties.

Here's what Icahn had to say:

Proxy fights are very expensive and time-consuming. Unlike political elections, where change is often seen, it is unfortunately extremely difficult to take control of a company. By the end of last week, … Read more