This image was lost some time after publication.

Before the formal takeover offer came, an informal Microsoft takeover of Yahoo was already underway, thanks to Yahoo's hiring of several executives from the software giant. Some have even speculated that Microsoft has encouraged this poaching, using its ex-employees as plants to keep track from the inside on Yahoo's progress. And Microsoft has, in turn, hired its share of Yahoos. How will they fare if Microsoft's $44.6 billion offer goes through?

This image was lost some time after publication.

Scott Moore Moore is the golden child of this merger. Before joining Yahoo, he had a long career running Web properties at Microsoft, including Slate (before the Washington Post bought it), MSN, and MSNBC.com. No one's better suited to bridge the company's cultures. Moore was recently promoted to run Yahoo's whole media group; I wouldn't be surprised to see that expanded to include MSN as well.

This image was lost some time after publication.

David Sobeski Suspicions run strong over the executive who runs Yahoo's Seattle-area office. Alas, his job's not nearly as secure as Moore's. His latest project is DataOS, a large-scale, distributed Web operating system meant to undergird Yahoo's properties. Given Microsoft's propensities for favoring its own technologies, DataOS isn't likely to have a long runway. But if Sobeski lands a top engineering job inside Microsoft, that will just strengthen rumors about why he took the job at Yahoo — some think he's been a Microsoft plant all along.

This image was lost some time after publication.

Gary Flake Formerly Yahoo's head of research, Flake joined Microsoft in 2005, and now runs Live Labs, the company's Internet-software R&D effort. Flake's an obvious candidate to run a combined research team.