Comments on: Icahn, Microsoft team up for action on Yahoo

The call goes out for Yahoo investors to oust the current board and elect Carl Icahn's dissident slate instead. Microsoft says yeah, we'd talk with a new board.

[CharlesRovira]

This may be a time when Icahn and Balmer see a company dissolve rather than give into them.

I predict that, push comes to shove, they'll get to own a company with no employees and nothing that can be done about it.

Yahoo will be a non-functioning shell and Icahn and Balmer will have shelled out for nothing.

They'll back off and then people will be rehired at their pre debacle salaries and pick up the pieces and the judos.

[Sumatra-Bosch]

How right you are. The moment that the Yahoo!s think that these thugs are going to be running their lives is the moment the building will simply empty. If Ballmer is smart, he'll just have Pinkerton send in armed guards ready to clear the place well in advance of any announcement to minimize rage-fueled vandalism by people whose lives will be shattered by Yahoo!'s takeover by this sadistic cult. Still, nothing will stop the Yahoo!s from building, burying and running logic bombs that could detonate 6-24 months out. MSFT should assume the entire infrastructure has been rigged for complete meltdown when they get their hands on it and throw whatever money and third-party talent they think they can buy or trust to ferret out the electronic IEDs that will be waiting for them.

[Tony McCune]

I commented on this back in May, Google stands to win with any Microhoo deal. The June market share data proved me right.
http://tmccune.blogspot.com/2008/05/google-wins-on-any-microhoo-deal.html

[jamalystic]

Why these acts of desperation by Microsft is any body's guess. It seems from all indication that Microsoft has hinged its online future on the deal with Yahoo. But there are still many viable options available to Microsoft: Why Microsoft Should Forego the Acquisitions Route(http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=625&doc_id=158193&F_src=flftwo)

[Dezeit]

I suspect that no formal offer can be given until they have sorted out the Employee stock automatically maturing on a takeover.

This is the most that Microsoft can do, as soon as the formal offer is made then there is no possibilitiy to get the stock vest overturned, or thats how I read it.

[YankeePoodle]

the garbage you are spewing does not make sense, it is your wishful thinking as a consequence of hate towards microsoft.

True there will be some attrition, but Yahoo! employees are already in the a limbo. A microsoft takeover wont make it any worse.

[Penguinisto]

Whee! Here we go again! Watch as speculators drive the YHOO share price through the roof!

Meanwhile, fanboys and astroturfers for MSFT will plop down and praise the attempt to High Heaven.

...and it all boils down to a simple (and holy crap is it obvious) inability of Ballmer to get MSN out of last place, and exemplifies the increasingly desperate floundering of MSFT's strategic plans in general.

/P

[Vegaman_Dan]

I don't think Microsoft needs to purchase Yahoo- the way that their CEO is running it now, it's collapsing with the exodus of talent and personnel all escaping his exploits. The stockholders are suing, the company is tanking and has no leadership. Microsoft would be foolish to go after this sinking ship. They can get all they want with separate purchases with other companies, and are in fact doing that now. On the other hand, it's good to see you are still your open minded self. ;)

[Sumatra-Bosch]

Stop that! You are having too much fun with this! Entirely too much fun!

[Penguinisto]

"Microsoft would be foolish to go after this sinking ship." Well, MSFT would be foolish twice-over if they got it. Also, consider that they're expending an awful lot of time, energy, and treasure chasing Google, when they should be busy trying to rehabilitate Vista, and looking for ways to out-last the commoditization of operating systems and apps.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Penguinisto wrote: "Also, consider that they're expending an awful lot of time, energy, and treasure chasing Google, when they should be busy trying to rehabilitate Vista, and looking for ways to out-last the commoditization of operating systems and apps." Oooh, if only you knew- well, your ignorance is charming and fun at least. The NDA will only allow me to say... perhaps Vista is a distraction from something else that is in the wings?

[The_Decider]

@VegetableHead: So Vista is a pointless pile of crap you say? It is only a distraction? That is quite an expensive and flawed distraction. I suppose you think that people will be happy that they wasted money of a distraction and will happily jump over to whatever pile of feces you are alluding to? Thank you for showing us, yet again, your idiocy and reinforcing that you are an technically ignorant shill. We all know you are a shill and a retard, there is no need to constantly remind us of that fact.

[YankeePoodle]

Microsoft is determined to be No.2 in search. It is a great gambit for Yahoo! and Microsoft to have a fighting chance against Google. The insane hatred of Jerry Yang towards Microsoft has hurt many including his own workers. Yahoo! and Microsoft should join forces to make a alternate search possible and worthwhile.

Google is a different beast, but for now all microsoft wants is to keep Google in it sights and make search more competetive so that Google does not encroach Microsoft's terrain.

[Penguinisto]

"It is a great gambit for Yahoo! and Microsoft to have a fighting chance against Google." Err, they'd still be #2 combined, and by a huge margin. The reasons why MSFT isn't #1 would simply be amplified, and would likely drive hordes of Yahoo-loyal users to Google, making Google an even larger competitor. Also, Yahoo doesn't have to join forces with MSFT for any reason - they're still experiencing decent growth all by themselves.


Meanwhile, MSFT is only worried about google because Google represents the future (where the WWW is the focus), while MSFT represents the past (where the OS and business apps were the center of the universe).

[YankeePoodle]

Penguinisto,

OS is not really outdated, if you truly believe that, convince your Linux comrades to stop developing the GNU\Linux, the world does not need another operating system.. right? Put your money where your mouth is.

Google does not represent anything, they are rival monopoly. Microsoft is very uncomfortable having another 800-pound Gorilla around. Sooner or later there is going to be an alternative to internet search and having some semblance of competition is good for advertisers and users.

I love Google, i use their search, mail and other interesting applications. Google is a fallable company too, look at Google Checkout? Froogle?. The only thing going for Google is their search.

Yahoo is has done miserable over the years, after great promising start they are somehow caught up in a dilemma of deciding whether wanting to a tech company or content company. Microsoft would provide the sense of direction back to Yahoo certainly the alliance will have more to gain from than to lose.

I want this merger to happen, because the world is unsafe place with only one decent search engine.

[Penguinisto]

I didn't say outdated - I would say that the OS has become a commodity; there's no potential for growth there if you're trying to make a living off of a proprietary version of it. Apple knows this, which is why they're smart enough to sell computers, not operating systems. The Linux community knows this, which is why Linux-oriented corps (including IBM) focus on selling services, not the product itself. You also discount the fact that while Linux (as a community) has one big non-fiduciary goal for working on it (software freedom), MSFT has no other goal than to make money from the product. ---------- Yep, Google is fallible, but they win more often than they lose... something MSFT used to be able to claim. Google has a future, and is rapidly pushing towards it. MSFT is trying to get there, but at the same time tries to keep one foot in the past... as Vista has proven, the results are ugly at best. ------ "I want this merger to happen, because the world is unsafe place with only one decent search engine." so turning three search engines into two would reach that goal... how? If MSN/Live was so popular, then why does it lag even though it's the default on Windows?

[mgarfein]

Why does Msft keep pursuing Yahoo? Too much for too little s far as I'm concerned.
Also, am I the only one that thinks Msft should break up? I think that the nod towards Msft based platforms does more harm than good for their internet strategies.

[GadgetDon]

There's one thing still missing from Icahn's plans. What is his Plan B? Assume he takes over, what's his option to selling?

Even if the final result is selling, the lack of a Plan B means that in the negotiation, Microsoft holds all the cards. They can make an offer for $25/share, and Icahn will have no options.

And the thing is, Icahn knows this, or ought to. He's done enough deals to know what happens when one side can walk away from the negotiating table but the other side can't. He's probably been in deals where he's be the one who can walk away. And he probably did the "rational" thing of grabbing them where it hurts and squeezing. The only way this makes sense is if he's got a deal in his back pocket from Balmer, they've already agreed to a number. But even then, he's a fool...what are his guarantees that Microsoft will keep to it.

[Penguinisto]

I'm thinking that Icahn and MSFT have an 'understanding', in that when/if MSFT does gobble up shares, MSFT will either pay Icahn a premium for his, or Icahn gets enough to exert some control over Yahoo, until he strips and salvages whatever parts of it that MSFT doesn't purchase.

[Vegaman_Dan]

At this point, it's clear there is a 'plan' in the works, but if MS decdied to back away from this deal as well, Yahoo could be in a serious bad position- not that they are doing so well now, of course. I would look more towards NEWS.COM and MSFT possibly buying up Yahoo and parting it out with Search going to MS and the rest / content going to News.com. But all of this is guesswork- nobody, and I mean nobody- here has any real knowledge of what is going on. It's all speculation.

[kpepps17]

If Yahoo sells, I will not use it anymore. I don't know maybe I will. I do not see good things for yahoo in the future. Smells like a pump and dump to me. Kind a like one hand milking a bull and the other holding the sieve.

[Vegaman_Dan]

I'd have to start using it to drop it. I mean, there obviously must be people who use it, but I can't seem to find anyone. Portal sites like this and AOL seem to be left back in the 90's.

[JCPayne]

Microsoft is NOTHING without Yahoo so they need this or else.

[Penguinisto]

...or else what? To be honest, if MSFT would actually, you know, innovate (like they claim to), they could have easily surpassed Google by now. They do after all have the installed base and the ability to embrace/extend/extinguish its competitors... if only they could figure out how to do it in any market that doesn't involve the ability to strong-arm OEM's, anyway...

[Reallyeh]

Carl Icahn is a business bully out to make money only for himself and rip up the company until there is nothing left. He uses the proxy battles as he has done in many other dealings to force a company to a buy out, and does not care about the end result because he makes the $$$$. And we know all about Microsoft's dealings they seem to be the perfect pair ready to destroy and a great Internet company. I think Yahoo's tough stance is AWESOME and hope they fight to the bitter end so they don't end up like one of Carl Icahn's destroyed companies such as TWA. Google, continue to help Yahoo, they need all the muscle against these bullies!!

[YankeePoodle]

Everyone needs a savior and dont blame Yahoo shareholders for finding one in Carl Icahn. It is Jerry Yang who brought this on to himself.

[Penguinisto]

Shareholders, or Speculators? Shareholders are usually smart enough to not sacrifice long-term growth for short-term profit bumps. ;)

[Vegaman_Dan]

Penguinisto wrote: "Shareholders, or Speculators? Shareholders are usually smart enough to not sacrifice long-term growth for short-term profit bumps. " This is true, but considering the stock's long term value hasn't kept up with the industry, investing in this company is a poor choice. I think the stock holders can see a profit to be made before the company is either bought out or continues in its downward death spiral. There is a proper time to buy and to sell. It's pretty clear this stock isn't going to be around for the long term, so I can't really blame stock holders wanting to get what they can for it.

[open-mind]

On the down side ... if this deal goes through, it means the destruction of Yahoo as we know it today. And that's kind of sad.



On the plus side ... if this deal goes through, Microsoft will begin to flounder sooner, since most of their cash and resources will be absorbed by this boondoggle. As a result, the Fortune-100 (where I work) will more quickly consider alternatives like Linux and OS X for the desktop. Unfortunately, right now, we're still mired in the Windows-only mandate-muck of ten years ago.



So the selfish part of me hopes this deal will go through.

[Penguinisto]

I'm actually happy either way. If MSFT buys it, they'll sink. If they don't, I know that MSFT is still stuck in a dilemma that is slowly rendering them irrelevant, and that Ballmer is stoo drop-stupid to be able to rectify that. (I doubt that Gates could do it, to be honest... it's a whole different paradigm than any one that either of them would be familiar with.)

[Vegaman_Dan]

Interesting comments. Ignorant ones when faced with the reality of the situation and facts before us, but interesting none the less. On a sdie note, how did you get paragraphs to work with this thrice-damned horrible commenting system CNET has adopted?

[open-mind]

Dan, at least we agree that CNET's new weblog app sux rocks. I thought the old one was bad until using this. Anyway, to get the paragraphs, I've just been putting two HTML break tags (br) in line with my comments. Paragraph (p) tags might work too. Let's see...

It worked if this displays as a new paragraph.

[jmdunys]

Microsoft BADLY want the Zimbra team. Isn't it interesting that the Zimbra boss now in charge of Zimbra AND IM is talking about IM interoperability?


Search is the red herring that Microsoft want everybody to follow. If they wanted it THAT much, why didn't they bump up the price a little just for the search business?


If the deal go through, I see a new hotmail/yahoo-mail based on Zimbra backend. I see a retooling of Exchange Server using Zimbra technology. I see a new built-in email and calendar app in Windows 7 based on the Zimbra client - pre-configured for the new hotmail. I see Microsoft getting partners to build widgets and extensions to their new Exchange system

[The_Decider]

Icahn is a destroyer looking for a fast buck, regardless of the carnage it creates. Microsoft is just a dinosaur who hasn't figured out their time is over. They just know they need to compete with this Google thing, but don't understand why or how. The only possible result is that Google will be stronger and there will be less competition. Oh, and Microsoft will still have no clue what to do with all that code from Yahoo because everyone left MicroHoo because no one with talent wants to work for the mind-numbing borg.

[df561]

lol why does everyone give Google so much credit, they have exactly 1 successful product, and their brand does not scale to anything beyond search. Google's only hope for the future is to use all that wealth and become an ISP