Technology, Culture, Commentary on the Internet Revolution

Yahoo Shareholders See the Light

by Mike Abundo on July 19th, 2008

I say Yahoo did the right thing by fighting off Microsoft. Dvorak says shareholders who disagree are sick and greedy. Carl Icahn, champion of the sick and greedy, proposes a board full of losers.

Good to see Yahoo’s biggest shareholders finally see the light.

Carl Icahn’s chances to win the Yahoo proxy war, which had been getting increasingly slim, just dropped to next-to-nothing: Legg Mason’s Bill Miller, who controls 4.4% of of Yahoo shares, just formally sided with Jerry and his existing board.

Technically, Carl still has bullets left: Gordy Crawford, who controls 6.5% of the company, has let it be known that he’s displeased with Jerry, but hasn’t formally come out on Icahn’s side, which leads us to believe that he’s not going to. And in any case, Carl needs 50% of Yahoo shareholders on his side by August 1, and he’s not going to get it with major institutions pre-emptively voting for Jerry.

Carl Icahn says “It’s hard to understand these technology companies.” No it isn’t, Carl. Successful technology companies build new things of lasting value. They’re not just in it for a quick buck. I’m not the biggest Yang fan in the world, but I can see he’s not just in it for a quick buck.

Corporate raiders like Icahn, on the other hand, are easy to understand. They’re just in it for a quick buck, at the expense of any lasting value for customers like you.

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POSTED IN: Investment, Microsoft, Yahoo