internet

This post was updated at 1:45 p.m. PDT with updated information following the market's close:

Yahoo's shares took a hammering early Monday morning. But by the market's close, a badly beaten, but not mortally wounded, Yahoo ended the day down 15 percent at $24.37 a share.

Microsoft closed out the session at $29.08, down 0.55 percent.

This blog was also updated at 9:50 a.m. PDT.:

Yahoo shares fought back some of their losses in late morning trading, reaching $24.70 a share, down 13.85 percent from Friday's close. … Read more

Now that Microsoft has withdrawn its unsolicited buyout bid, Yahoo investors who are outraged and seeking to extract some pain may gear up to engage in several actions, ranging from gunning for a board seat to voting "against" re-electing the company's slate, say proxy solicitors and M&A attorneys.

Eric Jackson, a Yahoo shareholder activist, falls into both camps. On Sunday, Jackson said he's planning to launch a "withhold vote" campaign and hopes to run for a board seat when Yahoo holds its next annual shareholders meeting.

"I'm definitely interested in … Read more

Curious how Microsoft's multi-multi-multi-billion dollar buyout bid for Yahoo sputtered, then crashed?

Kara Swisher's BoomTown column in All Things Digital has an interesting account of the missteps, sidesteps, and other goings on between the parties over the past several weeks.

Here's some nuggets from Swisher's post:

April 15 - Yahoo trotted out its financial strategy dog-and-pony show in Portland, Ore., to Microsoft. Trouble is, they remained mum on a valuation for the Internet search pioneer.

April 18 - The magic figure of $40 a share is revealed during a conference call with the companies' bankers and … Read more

With Microsoft's withdrawal of its increased Yahoo bid on Saturday, the Internet search pioneer's two largest institutional investors are fuming, according to a source familiar with their thinking.

The two investors were willing to accept an offer of $34 a share, the source noted. Microsoft was offering an increased bid of $33.

"Yahoo overplayed its hand," said the source. "If Yahoo's two largest investors are willing to take $34 and Microsoft is willing to give $33, it's a lot closer than Yahoo's $37 (a share)."

Capital World Investors, which recently doubled its holdings in Yahoo, bringing it to a 10.1 percent stake, … Read more

Here is the text of an internal memo Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sent Saturday afternoon to Microsoft employees:

From: Steve Ballmer

Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2008 5:18 PM

To: Microsoft - All Employees (QBDG)

Subject: Withdrawal of Offer to Acquire Yahoo!

This afternoon I sent the attached letter to Jerry Yang announcing that Microsoft has withdrawn its proposal to acquire Yahoo. We proposed the deal in the belief that a Microsoft-Yahoo merger would create a combined company with the resources and assets to win in the fast-growing market for advertising and online services.

Although the acquisition of Yahoo would … Read more

Microsoft says its offer for Yahoo is off the table, but could this be just a negotiating ploy?

It's a natural question to ask. I mean, if Microsoft has had the hots for Yahoo for two years, can it really be so sure that it is no longer interested?

My take is that Microsoft has ruled out two options, but that one possibility for Yahoo remains out there.

Clearly, Microsoft is not having luck getting Yahoo to consider the price it is willing to pay, so the direct option hasn't worked. CEO Steve Ballmer says that Microsoft has … Read more

With Yahoo apparently off the table, it's time to see what Microsoft's back-up plan looks like.

Microsoft has said for some time that it has a strategy with or without Yahoo, but it's a strategy clearly in need of a jump-start.

In search, for example, Microsoft has been trying to take on Google for some time, but it remains a distant third in search queries and also has struggled in the all-important battle of monetizing each search query.

Microsoft outlined two key reasons for buying Yahoo--adding its talented engineers and getting the significant boost in scale that … Read more

Microsoft officially pulled its offer for Yahoo on Saturday, confirming an earlier report by CNET News.com.

In a letter to Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer confirmed that Microsoft was willing to offer $33 a share, but that Yahoo was holding out for at least $37 a share, or $5 billion more than Microsoft was prepared to spend. In the letter, Ballmer also says he is ruling out a direct offer to shareholders.

"This approach would necessarily involve a protracted proxy contest and eventually an exchange offer," Ballmer said. "Our discussions with you have … Read more

UPDATED at 1:25 p.m. PDT to clarify RAM in the computer is measured in megabytes.

Perhaps the days of looking at Cuba as the island that technology forgot are beginning to wane.

Late last month, President Raul Castro's government lifted the ban on ordinary citizens from owning a cell phone and getting cell service, a right previously limited to executives working for foreign companies or high communist party officials. DVD players, motorbikes, and plug-in pressure cookers also went on sale for the first time.

Now, citizens of the communist-controlled country can for the first time be the … Read more