“Yahoo! Inc., the world’s second most popular Internet search engine, plans to reject Microsoft Corp.’s $44.6 billion unsolicited takeover offer, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the situation,” Ari Levy reports for Bloomberg.
Levy reports, “The board decided the price ‘massively undervalues’ the Sunnyvale, California-based company, and Yahoo may face risks because regulators could oppose the combination, the newspaper said today. On Feb. 1, Microsoft offered $31 a share in cash and stock for Yahoo, 62 percent more than the price before the bid.”
“Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang, who said this week that Yahoo is examining its options, may consider a partnership with bigger rival Google Inc. or ways to wrest a higher offer from Microsoft,” Levy reports.
“Yahoo might seek help from rivals, soliciting other bids or seeking partnerships with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. or Google to thwart Microsoft, according to analysts including Stanford Group Co.’s Clayton Moran,” Levy reports.
“The New York Times reported Feb. 4 that Google CEO Eric Schmidt contacted Yang to suggest a partnership between their companies,” Levy reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Ampar” for the heads up.]
I ♥ ZuneTang. He’s great
This is Bill Gates last throw of the dice before he goes off into the sunset to help spend some of the money he has conned from we mere mortals on gratuitous self promotion, sorry I mean good causes. He leaves either having done the deal that saves MS’s bacon in the new World that is rapidly making MS’s few money cows increasingly redundant or (and more likely) he leaves having set up that ‘saving deal’ opportunity which Stevie Balmer and co then go on to completely bugger up of course. Meanwhile everyone thinks what a wonderful man Billy boy is and the urban myths develop into biblical proportions. He started that company with a dodgy deal and he is now leaving it with the ultimate one.
Yahoo = Who?
MS: “Innovation Through Assimilation.”™
That’s why we used to call them ‘The Borg’ . . .
Zune Tang is so far of the track that at first I thought he was being funny, but the more I read from him the more worried I become. I mean he is the kind of guy that talks to himself and lives in a hole in the ground. He worries me, and I suggest he check himself in for a little mental checkup before he cracks.
FSCK MICROSOFT!! THEY ARE CRAPOLA!!
I’m a life long Mac user and thought I try to fix my friends Windows PC.
I managed to clean off all the viruses, spyware etc., locked the box down so nothing can get in. But everything is so HALF-ASSED BACKWARDS.
Like who the FSCK has to “shut down” to “restart” the machine?
It’s crap, Windows is TOTAL CRAP.
Absolute and UTTER CRAP!!!
Smart Mac Users WILL NOT USE ANY MICROSOFT SOFTWARE WHAT SO EVER!
Use NeoOffice which is is very nice on the Mac and it’s free and compatible with Office and OpenOffice.
this is like the Taoist story about the old farmer and the horse. it could be bad news, but it could be good news. this might only mean an even more expensive hostile take over….
Poon Tang sounds like Darth Vader complaining about the rebels.
Of course Yahoo doesn’t want M$; who does?
Peace.
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Olmecmystic
Look they would not let the #1 search company do anything that’s for sure. I don’t see any type of yahoo and google deal getting done not to mention google needs to worry about their own problems at the moment and look for new streams of revenue beyond search which is something they have not done yet. Let MSFT have yahoo it’s not worth the price it’s trading at, let alone 44 billion. It’s a done deal so just get on with it no one period can turn a bid down like this with bagholder shareholders ready to bank out. Let them have another cash drainer.
<< “Zune Tang is so far of the track that at first I thought he was being funny…” >>
@Jim
Ah… Jim– Stick with your first thought.
I think Microsoft cannot afford to up the bid for Yahoo.
You look at Microsofts products performance over the years and in daily increasing trend of companies looking for ways out of dealing with Microsoft and you have a situation of a monolithic organisation that has alot of problems.
Consider the evidence;
1. Products not selling in the volumes Microsoft needs to sell the m in
2. Businesses wanting to break away from the stranglehold of using their propriety software
3. Lack of innovation, creativity and sensible business decisions
4. Microsoft’s reliance on ‘buying the competition’ to innovate and destroy choice
5. Steve Balmer (says it all really)
6. Microsoft’s core markets and products being sidelined for alternatives
7. Lack of speed to market with products compared to smaller and more efficient businesses.
Add all these up and you get a company that is too big, has to buy the competition to stay in markets, re-acts too slowly to competing companies, cannot innovate and above all is seeing shrinking sales due to businesses sick of being screwed.
Let’s face it… If Microsoft buy Yahoo then both companies will go down.
Yahoo’s best move is a partnership with Google not a buyout from Microsoft.
Times when entreprises where “pround” to be bought by M$ is over!
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Monopoly of crap is going under!
“Times when entreprises where ‘pround’ to be bought by M$ is over!”
Not exactly.
“Microsoft has bought Caligari, a developer of 3D modeling software, in a move that could help enrich the graphics experience in Microsoft’s Virtual Earth mapping system.”
“‘Now we will have more resources to rely on, larger market to consider and I hope more fun doing that,’ [Roman Ormandy, founder and CEO of Caligari] wrote.
“In December, Microsoft bought Multimap, which also became a wholly owned subsidiary and works with the Virtual Earth and Search groups. Multimap develops online mapping services. At the time of that acquisition, Microsoft said the buy would help it expand its online services offerings to consumers and businesses.”
(source: washingtonpost.com)
Regardless what happens I will only use google for search anyway.
So let Microsoft waste its I’ll-gotten gains from years of ripping off businesses.
How is this company worh 44 Billion? At this rate it would take 66 years for payback, and I thought Yahoo was in decline.
Yahoo! Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2007 Financial Results
Full Year Revenues – $6,969 Million
Full Year Operating Income – $695 Million
Poon Tang sounds like Darth Vader complaining about the rebels.
I thought it sounded more like a trash-talk segment from a 1980’s pro wrestling TV show.
As for Yahoo wanting MS, anything’s for sale if the offering price is right. If I were Yahoo’s shareholders and board, I’d hold out for at least $100 billion in CASH, no worthless MSFT stock options or crap like that.
Ballmer will stop at nothing to “take on” Google. Why not capitalize on it?
I’ll take Google over Microsoft any day. Microsoft would just ruin yahoo completely. I applaud Yahoo for rejecting Microsoft. There are many who don’t use Yahoo as a search engine, but do use it for there email. Microsoft would probably kill the email especially if it had any compatibility with Macs. Make it IE7 only compatible, things like that. You would probably have to buy something Microsoft that wasn’t Mac compatible in order to use it.
NO THANKS MICROSOFT!!!
If I had 44 billion I could start my own company. Why buy one?
Mmmm…. seems as though money ISN’T everything!
Sorry Microsoft, you’ve had it.
http://blogs.computerworld.com/safari_is_about_to_get_crazy_fast
Give Safari webkit a try – it really is as fast as he says. I don’t have any issues with it… it seems to be just as rock stable as Safari 3.0.4..
Go Apple!
Microsoft is obviously desperate, I would sell them the paid search business for 25 billion then outsource to Google.
Microsoft gets their Google weapon. Yahoo stays independent with enough R&D;cash to find their way again.
What ever, still don’t use either of them.
Yahoo stock will tank 10+ dollars Monday morning.
They are right on the money today
http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/index.html