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 a proxy contest to pressure Yahoo into accepting a deal with Microsoft. Icahn, however, reached a .

"I think that Yahoo management was pathetic," Pickens reportedly said during the Chronicle editorial board meeting he was addressing.

Pickens told the Chronicle that he sold his shares at a loss, as his patience for a deal between the two companies grew thin. The billionaire investor declined to reveal the size of his loss, according to the report.

Yahoo's annual shareholders meeting is scheduled for Friday.

[Kwasiowusu]

""I think that Yahoo management was pathetic," Pickens reportedly said"
I agree.

[fokkwp]

Pickens needs to follow Gates' example and get a life. There are more useful things to do with money than screw with the minds of corporate boards.

[humanssssss]

I'm all for billionaires to lose money. Because for every dollar loss of billionaire, the poor gains a dollar who will in turn spend this dollar faster than the billionaire does.

Boone Pickens is in it for the money and wanted a quick return. When he can't get a quick return on his money, he calls people name. That's fine Boone Pickens. You LOST.

I hope that wherever Boone Pickens put his money in the bank, that these banks fail and he will lose more money.

[YankeePoodle]

Ignorant remark. If a billionaire losses money its not a zero-some game. It is that wealth has diminished. Billionaires have a way to figure out wealth creation or accumulation. Yahoo losing value is only hurting people and other than probable short-sellers is not helping anyone. If you think those short-sellers are poor, boy you are mistaken.

[oneoclock]

Usually it is the big guys like Boone Pickens who make money from millions of smaller guys who lose their shirts. This time it is the other way round, so fair enough. If only he'd be a good loser and shut up instead of calling people names. He's written off what is called opportunity cost, and he won't be without food and shelter as a result of it, so what?!

[Vegaman_Dan]

I'd be curious to WHOM he sold all this stock to. It's too big of a chunk to let it go dispersed amongst the open market. It's just the sort of thing Icahn would be likely to snap up for more leverage.

I could be and likely will be wrong about this, but the timing is curious.

[Penguinisto]

Actually, you could very easily dump a couple of million shares into the open market and it'd absorb it... a mid-cap company can very easily see a daily volume of a dozen million shares.

[russkeller]

Of course he thinks their Management was pathetic. He was trying to ride the buyout bid rise that Ichan was trying to get going and they weren't playing his game. Yahoo's management wasn't bad he's just whining bratty billionaire that didn't get his way.

[jodpur]

It's true Mr Pickens, Internet companies do not operate in back rooms with dirty deals and back scratching. It would appear your greed, and membership to the "good ole boy network" cost you dearly this time. Too bad for you. Chalk one up for the little guys.

[fafafooey]

Pickens can now go and buy a bunch more windmills and TV commercials that will also lose him money...

[algrythm]

From CNBC's article about Pickens' dumping:

"Pickens did not disclose how much he lost on the investment. According to FactSet Research, Yahoo shares traded at an average of $26.78 during the month of May, and had currently fallen to about $20. This means Pickens' loss could be more than $50 million."

darn the bad luck..

[open-mind]

So the planned Yahoo liquidation didn't happen, Gordon Gecko lost some money, and now he's mad at Bud Fox. Poor thing.

[crue24]

Ummm, reading these posts confuse me. Has anyone here ever invested money? Poor people didn't get the money that Pickens lost, it essentially vanished with the value of Yahoo stock. And all the much poorer people who bought Yahoo shares also lost money. Basically everyone who has bought Yahoo for the long term over the past 5 years has lost money. The only people really making money are the shorts. I'm not necessarily a big fan of corporate raiders, but at the same time, if Yahoo was doing things right, they wouldn't be in the crosshairs of the raiders anyway. Yahoo's performance has been terrible and if they don't make major change or sell, they will continue to deteriorate as a company and of course in stock price, cost every shareholder, rich and poor, more money.

And if you "love" Yahoo, the company, then you shouldn't own the stock, becuase it affects your judgement. The $33 a share buyout was more than a 50% increase in the value of the stock at the time vs. the 50% + decline the stock has made over the past few years prior to the announcement. +50% is good. -50% is bad. If you own stock that loses money year over year, you should probably consider getting rid of it. You're better off hiding it under the mattress.

[JCPayne]

LOL He lost money.... HAHAHA See what greed gets you.....

[sanenazok]

Has the board of Yahoo been successful? Not by a long shot. The price of stock has gone down over the longer term (3+ years). Yahoo's share of e-mail, web, advertising and other kinds of traffic have been Googled to death.

[Sugiarto Setiabudi]

T Boone Pickens should feel free in investing of Yahoo's shares.
T Boone Pickens is one of the SICK investment entity with poor investment goals.

[reunionpi]

Since we could not find a vehicle registered for T. Boone Pickens, the oil man on television, see what vehicle his wife drives

http://webofdeception.com/#pickensauto

[v1m]

Always nice to see a sleazy, parasitical fat cat lose money.