News
Murdoch Out; Yahoo Continues Fighting Microsoft
- By Becky Nagel
- March 11, 2008
Yahoo just lost another option in its battle to stave off Microsoft's hostile takeover bid.
News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said this week that he's not going to compete
with Microsoft for Yahoo. "We're not going to get into a fight with Microsoft,
which has a lot more money than us," Reuters reported Murdoch saying at an investment conference Monday.
In February, the Wall Street Journal reported that Yahoo was in talks with News Corp. for a deal that would give News Corp. as much as 20 percent ownership over Yahoo while still leaving the company independent.
Yahoo's board formally rejected
Microsoft's initial $44.6 billion bid last month, saying that it undervalued
the company significantly, to which Microsoft almost immediately replied
that it would continue to pursue the acquisition without offering more.
Last week, Yahoo temporarily side-stepped one of Microsoft's moves to push
this tactic forward: After reports
surfaced that Microsoft would try to replace Yahoo's board members this
month with ones more likely to approve the takeover, Yahoo decided to delay
its annual meeting indefinitely and extend the nominating period for new board
members through March 24.
Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang commented on the move in an e-mail sent to employees, a copy of which was filed with the Security Exchange Commission last week. "Microsoft, of course, could still choose to name directors, but our objective here is to enable our board to continue to explore all of its strategic alternatives for maximizing value for stockholders without the distraction of a proxy contest," he wrote. "It will also make it easier for you to continue to focus intently on delivering on our business strategies and creating value."
He continued, "We believe we are making progress clarifying the many options
available to us. And, of course, throughout this process, management and the
board are both speaking with -- and listening carefully to -- our stockholders.
This ongoing dialogue has provided us with helpful feedback."
About the Author
Becky Nagel serves as vice president of AI for 1105 Media specializing in developing media, events and training for companies around AI and generative AI technology. She also regularly writes and reports on AI news, and is the founding editor of PureAI.com. She's the author of "ChatGPT Prompt 101 Guide for Business Users" and other popular AI resources with a real-world business perspective. She regularly speaks, writes and develops content around AI, generative AI and other business tech. She has a background in Web technology and B2B enterprise technology journalism.