

Dear Yahoo! You're Fired! - statikpulse
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/15/dear-yahoo-youre-fired/

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Xichekolas
And now we have all learned to never piss off Carl Icahn... the dude swings
with a big bat:

> "I have therefore taken the following actions: (1) during the last 10 days,
> I have purchased approximately 59 million shares and share-equivalents of
> Yahoo; (2) I have formed a 10-person slate which will stand for election
> against the current board; and (3) I have sought antitrust clearance from
> the Federal Trade Commission to acquire up to approximately $2.5 billion
> worth of Yahoo stock."

Which translates to:

"Oh by the way, I bought 59 million shares last week, and I feel like buying
$2.5 billion more just so I can fire you and sell your company to Microsoft."

Amusing to say the least.

~~~
thaumaturgy
Incredibly amusing ... and a powerful lesson that reinforces my decision not
to let other people get involved in control of my company.

Yahoo's actions weren't in the best interest of its shareholders, but I think
they were in the best interest of its user base. How disappointing that the
shareholders care so little for Yahoo's users, or its identity as a company.

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sharksandwich
It seems to me like if something like this were to succeed - Icahn forcing the
current board out and replacing it with a group whose primary qualification
seems to be that they'd approve a sale - Yahoo would lose a lot of leverage to
negotiate a favorable price for its shareholders. Does anyone know how that's
dealt with? Would he already have agreed to terms with MS before initiating
this?

~~~
immad
It will still be the boards responsibility to get the best deal for the
shareholders. It is also unlikely that MS could go down from their $33/share
bid that they already committed to. But I do see your point.

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jimbokun
Mark Cuban looks like the only guy on the proposed slate of directors with any
direct experience running a web/software business.

~~~
gojomo
I think the idea here is to sell it, not run it. So the main qualification of
the new board would be: can phone MSFT and ask them to again offer $33/share.

~~~
Xichekolas
Can I be on the board then? I'm sure they'll all get a sweet payoff from the
deal.

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henning
I wish gossip whores like Arrington wrote the way angry corporate raiders (or
their secretaries, maybe) do.

~~~
kyro
I understand that you have issues with TC and Arrington, but I'd think this
post would least compel to point something like that out. He merely posted a
letter that I happened to find interesting. Save those lines for the moments
when they are really necessary.

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Antiglobalism
I believe John C Dvorak had this right: MS lacks direction. They should stop
becoming Web 2.0 masters and instead focus on releasing a simple, effective,
high-quality OS (which they've failed with since W2K/XP imo).

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prakash
Interesting to see that Mark Cuban is in the board nambed by Ichan.

~~~
jfornear
I thought the same thing. I love it.

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brentr
Icahn is not infallible when it comes to internet companies. While Time Warner
is not 100% tech, it should be noted that his proxy war never came to
fruition.

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edw519
"completely botched"? Can you be a little less technical please?

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sabat
It's obvious that the MS offer of $33/share is superior to Yahoo's
"standalone" prospects? Really? Long-term, who do you think is on the decline
and who isn't? Between the two, I'd bet Yahoo over MS.

~~~
emmett
You're basically saying you think the stocks are mispriced significantly. If
that's true, there's a huge opportunity to buy Y! and sell MS, and you'll make
a killing. Why aren't you taking it?

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coglethorpe
> The server at www.techcrunch.com is taking too long to respond.

Perhaps it's TechCrunch that should be fired. The site responds less often
that Twitter.

