Yahoo’s board echoed Jerry Yang by telling Icahn just where to put his attempt to broker a Microsoft deal.

It’s clearly a battle of wills here as billionaire Carl Icahn’s decided that the best thing for Yahoo is to let Microsoft assimilate the search engine into its large, welcoming arms.

Of course, Yahoo’s paramount leader, Yang, disagrees, saying that Microsoft’s getting the better end of the deal. Icahn’s willing to convince the shareholders to overthrow and replace the board if he has to, whatever the board may say. It is also slightly humorous that Yahoo! News has a section dedicated to the ownership battle, with full coverage from sources like the AP and AFP.

Icahn wasn’t exactly playing fair either, if Yahoo’s to be believed. It claims it received a proposal to allow Microsoft to buy the search engine and whatever lest would go to a board controlled by Icahn. And it had 24 hours to respond. WHat else could you expect but a heated statement in reply? Evidence Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock’s quote in the release which actually doesn’t sound like something that a PR firm would cook up for a change: "While this type of erratic and unpredictable behavior is consistent with what we have come to expect from Microsoft, we will not be bludgeoned into a transaction that is not in the best interests of our stockholders."

Bludgeoned seems like an apt description of Icahn’s approach to the whole Microsoft deal. It’s easy to understand why the board is nervous about giving Icahn control. Icahn has no experience with the Internet and is treating the whole affair as a standard ‘must stop stock prices from slipping so let’s sell before there’s nothing left to hawk’. Microsoft came late to the Internet scene, and are still trawling behind while Google nets the lion’s share of ads, share prices and innovation accolades. Not that Google doesn’t have problems of its own but a partnership with Yahoo might do more to prop up the latter’s business than just letting Microsoft swallow it whole.

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Entry was posted on Sunday, July 13th, 2008 at 1:39 pm under Microsoft, Yahoo!.

Read more entries by Erna Mahyuni.
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