Icahn haz Yahoo board resignation
Carl Icahn, the Yahoo investor who attempted a hostile takeover of the company last year, has resigned from the board of directors.
Icahn’s move against Yahoo’s board, especially then-chief executive Jerry Yang, was prompted by the failure of the struggling company to reach an acquisition deal with Microsoft. Last July, Icahn threatened to try to get Yahoo’s entire board replaced with members more open to a Microsoft deal, but instead negotiated to get a seat on… Continue Reading
Roundup: IPhone glitches may be fixed in Sept., Netflix suffers outage and more
Here’s the latest action:
IPhone glitches may be fixed in September — A chip in the iPhone is being blamed for dropped calls and choppy web reception, according to BusinessWeek. The problems will hopefully be fixed next month with a software upgrade.
Netflix suffers shipping and distribution outage — The outage affects one-third of the movie rental service’s 8.4 million customers. Executives say they’re trying to figure out an appropriate refund or credit.
Open source movement scores court victory —… Continue Reading
After weird first date, Icahn avoiding Yahoo shareholder meeting because it’s like, totally awkward
In what sounds more like a Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie date than a multi-billion dollar company’s shareholder meeting, Carl Icahn says he won’t show up so that it doesn’t turn into “a media event.” I can see it now, paparazzi perched in trees with zoom lenses, screaming fangirls. Mr. Icahn, you’re on Yahoo’s board of directors now, shouldn’t you be there?
The meeting takes place tomorrow, but Icahn outlined his feelings on it today in… Continue Reading
Roundup: Yahoo’s bad (but not awful) day, Icahn’s wild weekend, shuffle at the top of Etsy and more
Here’s the latest action:
Yahoo has a bad day, but it could have been much worse — The Internet giant announced its earnings today and fell short of expectations, but only by about a penny-a-share. Net income was down 19 percent from the same quarter last year. Still, considering it no longer has a Carl Icahn-led hostile takeover to worry about, the company can — and more importantly, will live with these numbers.
Icahn’s wild weekend — While Yahoo was… Continue Reading
Icahn haz seat on Yahoo board
There will be no fireworks on display at the Yahoo shareholder meeting on August 1. Or at least, they won’t be as bright. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has reached an agreement with Yahoo to drop his pursuit of a hostile takeover of the company. In return, Icahn will get a seat of his own on Yahoo’s board of directors as well as the potential for two other seats for the board replacement members he had… Continue Reading
Microsoft says Microsoft is upset with the way Yahoo portrayed Microsoft
With each passing day the Microsoft/Yahoo/Icahn fiasco becomes less like a business deal and more like a televsion sitcom. But a bad one. With characters you don’t like. As such, I’ll keep this brief.
Microsoft finally got around to issuing a response to the statement Yahoo released on Saturday night saying it was rejecting what it felt was a unfair joint offer from Microsoft and billionaire investor Carl Icahn. Microsoft claims that Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock… Continue Reading
Yahoo rejects Microsoft / Icahn proposal, name drops Google
I’m not sure which classic rock song best describes the latest in the Microsoft / Yahoo battle: “The Song Remains the Same” or “Saturday Night’s All Right (For Fighting)”? Both apply in their own right as yes, Yahoo has rejected yet another proposal by Microsoft, and in doing so no doubt ticked off both the software giant and billionaire investor Carl Icahn yet again.
The latest proposal sent to Yahoo on Friday had a 24-hour time… Continue Reading
Red Rover: Microsoft and Icahn lock arms, tell Yahoo to come over
The two key cogs pushing for a Yahoo takeover this year have been software giant Microsoft and billionaire investor Carl Icahn. Even though both wanted the same thing, their timing was always just a bit off. Now the two are teaming up. Yahoo is in trouble.
It’s like the childhood game of Red Rover; Microsoft and Icahn are linking arms and calling for Yahoo to come to their side. But Yahoo likely isn’t strong enough at… Continue Reading
Icahn haz…been busy, plans to blog on Yahoo shortly
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is really turning into a blogger.
A lot of bloggers when they go a few days without writing chime in to give an excuse for the lack of updates. I do it on my personal blog too. And today we got such a post from Carl Icahn.
Of course, Icahn’s excuse is a bit more sexy than your typical “I’m busy” or “I’m moving” post. Icahn really only wants to write about one… Continue Reading
Icahn haz blog. Loves the word “absurd”
Yes, the rumors are true. Carl Icahn has launched a blog. If this week is any indication, he plans to use it heavily to bloviate on topics near and dear to his heart — namely his thoughts on Yahoo.
Icahn launched a hostile takeover effort of the Internet giant after it rebuffed Microsoft’s buyout proposal. Icahn felt Yahoo’s actions were not in the best interests of its shareholders, of which he is now of the of… Continue Reading
After a nice northern vacation in the upper $20s, Yahoo stock heads back south
When Microsoft made a bid to buy Yahoo on February 1, the Internet company’s stock was at $19.18 a share. Microsoft’s offer of $31 a share, a 62 percent premium, caused Yahoo’ stock to soar. It shot past $28 a share and soon was hovering around the $30 a share mark — a level it hadn’t been at for months.
It was a nice little vacation in respectable stock heaven, but now reality is setting in… Continue Reading
Icahn issues a 5-point plan. Yahoo issues a 5-syllable response: Icahn is crazy
The back and forth between Yahoo and billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who is attempting to take the company over, is now arguably more entertaining than the formal letter wars during the whole Microsoft/Yahoo debacle.
Icahn recently got FTC approval to purchase a huge amount of Yahoo stock, putting him one step closer to a hostile takeover.
This morning, Icahn sent a letter to Yahoo laying out five steps of what he plans to do with the company… Continue Reading
Icahn haz Jerry Yang’s job?
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is back making waves for Yahoo again today. He’s now saying that if he is successful in his hostile takeover bid of Yahoo, he will remove its chief executive Jerry Yang, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Icahn believes Yang and Yahoo’s current board dropped the ball with regards to Microsoft’s proposed buyout of the company, which fizzled last month. Icahn also believes Yang and the board never had any intention of… Continue Reading
Icahn gets FTC approval to buy massive amounts of Yahoo stock
We’ve known that billionaire investor Carl Icahn had been trying to buy massive amounts of Yahoo stock to push ahead with his quest for a hostile takeover of the company. One speed bump in that plan was the Federal Trade Commission, which sometimes frowns upon massive stock purchases as being anti-competitive. That speed bump has been removed. The FTC approved Icahn’s purchase request today.
This puts Icahn squarely in the drivers seat if he wants to… Continue Reading
Microsoft to Yahoo: We’ll take what we can get — or we’ll back Icahn
Well that didn’t take long. Barely two weeks after walking away from its proposed deal to buy Yahoo, Microsoft released a statement today that the two sides were back at the negotiating table “in light of developments.” Those developments are billionaire financier Carl Icahn’s hostile actions to replace Yahoo’s board and word that Google and Yahoo are once again talking about extending their search advertising partnership.
Microsoft is not proposing a full takeover of Yahoo at… Continue Reading
WPP is very happy about its Yahoo partnership — would be happier if it included Microsoft as well
When I first saw that Yahoo and the advertising holding company WPP were set to announce a partnership, my immediate reaction was: Here’s the first of many Yahoo attempts to rebuff Carl Icahn’s (and to an extent, Microsoft’s) hostile takeover bid. However, it seems that WPP is actually upset that the Yahoo and Microsoft merger didn’t happen, according to The New York Times.
“Anybody who is a customer in the marketplace likes to see balance in… Continue Reading
Yahoo responds to Icahn’s short story with War & Peace
If you’re Yahoo and you have to respond to billionaire investor Carl Icahn’s letter telling the company he was launching a proxy takeover, you don’t have too many options — you’re going to look weak no matter what you say. The way I saw it there were two options: First, don’t respond. Maybe just pretend you didn’t get the letter and didn’t check the Internet today. Or second, come back with a response so long… Continue Reading
Mobile application provider Motricity to lay off many of its workers
Wherever investor Carl Icahn treads, there’s usually turmoil.
Now, one of his companies, Motricity, a Durham, N.C. provider of mobile content applications for telecom carriers, is preparing to lay off up to 200 of its 650 employees, according to a North Carolina business publication WRAL.
We haven’t written about Motricity yet at VentureBeat, but the big-name investor Carl Icahn and other venture capitalists have pumped in more than $350 million into the company. The private Motricity is… Continue Reading
AstraZeneca ups the biotech ante
Now that AstraZeneca has made the bold — or impulsive — decision to snap up MedImmune for $15.6 billion in cash, one big question is whether the U.K. pharmaceutical giant has kicked Big Pharma’s appetite for biotech acquisitions into high gear.
The green-eyeshade types are generally still scratching their heads over the rich price, which amounted to a 21 percent premium over MedImmune’s close on Friday. The biotech was known primarily for Synagis, an antibody-based drug… Continue Reading