carl-icahn

Yang's memo to Yahoos: "i know this could is distracting at the very least"

Nicholas Carlson · 07/15/08 09:12AM

Two internal memos from Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang dropped yesterday: one for all the Yahoos and one for all the Yahoo's bosses. Neither are disgraced with one single Microsoft-esque capital letter nor any of the blind optimism that plagued Yang and Yahoo president Sue Decker's earlier memos. In one of yesterday's, Yang writes: "proposals and attacks by microsoft and carl icahn leading up to our meeting are likely to get even more contentious. i know this could is distracting at the very least." Now, one might argue Yang's grammatical miscue in the second sentence stems from a physical weariness only too obvious in recent photographs of the CEO. But given Yang's taste for poetical punctuation, we like to think the "this could is distracting" refrain is actually Yang's attempt to offer the Yahoos a mimetic clue — a warning, even — of the days of confusion and anarchy shortly ahead. Decide for yourself, though. Both of Yang's memos are below.

Icahn, Microsoft say Bostock twisted facts about weekend negotiations

Nicholas Carlson · 07/14/08 03:20PM

In a letter to Yahoo shareholders, corporate raider Carl Icahn writes that he's never seen a company "distort, omit and twist" facts quite the way Yahoo did in a statement the company released Saturday night. Yahoo said it had rejected Microsoft's latest offer to buy Yahoo's search business. In the statement, Yahoo said Microsoft made an ultimatum and gave Yahoo only 24 hours to accept or reject the deal. Naturally, Microsoft agrees with Icahn's assement. In a release titled "Microsoft Sets the Record Straight," Microsoft says that it only proposed a new search deal after Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock called Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and asked for one. Microsoft says it worked a proposal up by late Friday and sent it, asking Yahoo to confirm in 24 hours whether or not the proposal was "sufficient to form the basis for the parties to engage in negotiations over the weekend on a letter of intent and more detailed term sheets." "This discussion," reads Microsoft's statement, "has been mischaracterized as a take it or leave it ultimatum, rather than a timetable in order to move forward to intensive negotiations." Yeah, we're lost, too. Microsoft's full statement, below.

The 59th and 5th Power Grid

cityfile · 07/14/08 12:08PM

Ever wonder why the CEO at your company has a $10,000 telescope parked in the corner of his office? It's not to admire the birds. Or even to peek at the woman in the neighboring office building who changes her blouse at precisely half past five. It's to look in the offices of other CEOs, obviously.

Icahn files replacement Yahoo board slate with SEC

Nicholas Carlson · 07/14/08 11:20AM

Corporate raider Carl Icahn made his proxy fight for control of the Yahoo board official today, filing an alternative slate with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The slate includes nine of the ten names Icahn already put forward in a letter to Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock. Bob Shaye, former cochairman and co-CEO of the recently defunct New Line Cinema, is no longer on the list. The filing includes a letter from Icahn to Yahoo shareholders in which Icahn urges them to vote for his slate because "Steve" — as in Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer — told him it would grease the wheels for a deal: "If a new board consisting of my nominees were to be elected,Microsoft would be willing to enter into discussions regarding a transaction immediately." Icahn's proposed slate and its members brief bios, below.

Microsoft's latest rejected Yahoo offer worth billions of dollars a year

Nicholas Carlson · 07/14/08 10:00AM

Reason No. 8347 why we're glad we're not Jerry Yang: We like weekends away from work. Yang never gets them anymore. On Saturday night, Yahoo released a statement letting the world know it rejected yet another Microsoft offer to acquire Yahoo's search business. Kara Swisher reported the terms of that deal today. $2.3 billion a year for outsourcing search — why didn't Microsoft offer that in the first place, without corporate raider Carl Icahn holding a gun to Yang's head? That seems easier. The bullet points, below:

Street Talk

cityfile · 07/14/08 05:06AM
  • The Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury will inject billions of dollars into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to shore up the mortgage financing giants. [WSJ]

Yahoo rejects Microsoft/Icahn bid

Paul Boutin · 07/12/08 11:32PM

From the Wall Street Journal: "Yahoo Inc. disclosed Saturday night that it had received and rejected a joint proposal from Microsoft Corp. and Carl Icahn for a restructuring that the Internet giant said would have included the acquisition of its search business by Microsoft." Kara Swisher at AllThingsD has a longer report with quotes from Yahoo and Microsoft execs that weren't in the official statement.

Murdoch on Microsoft-Yahoo: "There won't be a deal"

Nicholas Carlson · 07/11/08 11:40AM

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, who says shareholders shouldn't give corporate raider Carl Icahn control of the company because he has no plan other than to sell to Microsoft, got a boost from an unexpected supporter: News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch told reporters at Allen & Co.'s Sun Valley retreat that "in six months, (Microsoft) will walk away." The crusty mogul added: "There won't be a deal. There's bad personal feelings."

Jerry Yang talks to Kara Swisher — the end must be near

Paul Boutin · 07/10/08 05:20PM

After avoiding the viciously loquacious Kara Swisher for a year — even at her big tech conference — normally mellow Yahoo founder Jerry Yang gave the AllThingsD reporter an earful. Yang says No Fucking Way will he hand the keys over to the comedy team of Carl Icahn and His Lack of a Plan B (I'm paraphrasing), in part because Yang doesn't trust that Microsoft, for all its talk, will actually buy Yahoo from Icahn. “And then what will shareholders be left with?" Yang fumes. "A weakened, Icahn-controlled Yahoo.” The best possible outcome — we mean for us — will be a deathmatch proxy battle pitting Yang against Icahn at the August 1 shareholder meeting. (Photo by AP/Paul Sakuma)

Sun Valley moguls spent $4,300 to $6,110 on shrubs to keep reporters at bay

Nicholas Carlson · 07/10/08 10:20AM

Among the news from Allen & Co.'s Sun Valley retreat for the rich: Marc Andresseen continues his campaign to tell old media they are old; Carl Icahn would settle for any Microsoft offer that pays $30 or more per Yahoo share; some industrial chemical giant agreed to buy some other company no one's ever heard of. Yet none of the stories feature photographs of the deals going down. Why? Because unlike in years past, the retreat organizers have banned reporters and photographers from "the beloved cafe at the Inn," reports Reuters. What's more, to keep these reporters and photographers from stalking their prey on the hotel's grounds — as any good reporter would — organizers resorted to shrubbery to further shield the moguls' privacy. From the tags still left on the brand-new shrubs (how nouveau gauche), Reuters reporter Kenneth Li estimates organizers spent between $4,300 and $6,110 on the organic fence.

Famous People on the Menu

cityfile · 07/10/08 10:06AM

You know when you get really hungry and you're just dying for a delicious, rich, chocolatey piece of... Allen Grubman? Yes, indeed, you can pick up a slice of "Allen Grubman Double Chocolate Pudding Pie" at the tourist trap the Brooklyn Diner on West 57th Street. (It happens to be a block from Grubman's office.) Here are a few other dishes named after local boldface names.

All Aboard! Where Carl Icahn Stages Deals, Blogs

cityfile · 07/10/08 07:33AM

Have a look at the Starfire, the 180-foot yacht co-owned by Carl Icahn, the billionaire corporate raider (or "activist shareholder") who's currently waging a war against the board of Yahoo. It's here that Icahn and wife Gail occasionally spend blissful summer days with friends and family. (Incidentally, it's named after one of his companies, Starfire Holding Corp.) When Carl isn't admiring the "high-gloss veneers," "exquisite wood inlays" and "Art Deco decor"—or sampling a meal prepared by the on-board chef—he can be found using one of the numerous satellite phones (or blogging using the high-speed WiFi system), which allow him to terrorize chief executives from the remotest parts of the globe. But Carl is a value investor: He'll happily rent you the boat for a week to cruise the crystal blue seas of the Caribbean. Prices, crew bios, sample itineraries—and many more photos—below.

Street Talk

cityfile · 07/08/08 04:47AM
  • Allying itself with Carl Icahn, Microsoft says it's open to restarting talks with Yahoo if Yahoo's board is replaced. [WSJ]

6 reasons why Jerry Yang's wrong about Yahoo

Nicholas Carlson · 07/07/08 01:40PM

Do we still have to pity Yahoo cofounder Jerry Yang? Or is it, at long last, acceptable to simply hold him in contempt? With Microsoft backing corporate raider Carl Icahn's replacement board of directors, and major investor Gordon Crawford also lining up to support Icahn, Yang's time at the company is coming to an end, and he seems to know it. Yet he's trying to stay on anyway. Like any leader facing certain failure, Yang has begun to indulge in pure make-believe. Here's a short list of Yang's Yahoo fantasies.

Microsoft to Yahoo shareholders: replace Yahoo board and we'll talk buyout

Nicholas Carlson · 07/07/08 09:00AM

Yahoo shareholders allied with corporate raider Carl Icahn just got their wish. In a statement, Microsoft has announced that if Yahoo shareholders replace Yahoo's current board during an annual shareholder meeting on August 1, Microsoft will resume merger talks with Yahoo. As for Yahoo's current board, a Microsoft statement reads: "we have concluded that we cannot reach an agreement with them." The full statement:

The Yahoo board members we'd most like to see fired

Owen Thomas · 07/03/08 12:40PM

Corporate greenmailer Carl Icahn, some old dude who was stupid enough to buy a lot of shares of Yahoo on the premise that Microsoft would buy the company after it said it wouldn't, wants four seats on Yahoo's board. Yahoo only prepared to reward his intelligence by offering him two, Kara Swisher reports. Why so stingy? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to clear the dead wood out of the boardroom. Make room! Our nominees for the axe:

Reeling Yahoo board talks AOL merger, prepares to give Icahn board seats

Nicholas Carlson · 07/03/08 10:00AM

Yahoo continues to hold merger talks with Time Warner, discussing a deal that would fold AOL into Yahoo and give Time Warner a minority stake in the new company. Another morning, another round of share-price stimulating rumormongering in the Yahoo saga. If the deal sounds familiar, that's because Yahoo sources first leaked the idea back in April. You're hearing it again because Yahoo shares dropped into the teens two days ago. We don't expect Yahoo-AOL to happen, if only because Microsoft is also said to be interested in AOL and its got a lot more cash and pride on the line. In other Yahoo rumormongering: Reporter's reporter Kara Swisher reports that Yahoo is prepared to avoid a nasty proxy fight with Carl Icahn by giving him two seats on its board. Problem is Ican wants four. Swisher thinks the two will come to an agreement because neither side wants a media-friendly, share-crumbling fight at the company's annual media. Because its not at all too late for such concerns.

Street Talk

cityfile · 07/03/08 03:37AM
  • As expected, Lehman announced it will pay more of employees' compensation in stock this year; the bank also granted a mid-year equity bonus on July 1st. [Reuters]

Microsoft still pushing Icahn onward in proxy fight

Nicholas Carlson · 07/02/08 03:20PM

After selling Yahoo entirely to Micosoft, corporate raider Carl Icahn's second choice for Yahoo was for it to outsource search advertising to Google. That happened. And since then, Icahn's been awfully quiet, even as he's putting forward a slate to unseat Yahoo's current board of directors. Is Icahn content to sit back and watch his slate lose? Not according to the Wall Street Journal, which reports that he and Microsoft are still working in cahoots: