More Videos
- Google documents Iraqi museum treasures
- EU drops Qualcomm antitrust probe
- Barnes & Noble reports 2Q loss, cuts guidance
- Nokia to ax 220 R&D jobs in Japan
- Fox CEO wants US to join France on Internet piracy
- Newspaper circulation may be worse than it looks
- GE, Vivendi talks over NBC Universal stretch on
- B&N Nook sells out, too late for holiday orders
TECHNOLOGY NEWS FROM NYTIMES.COM
- Google Chief Announces Plan in Baghdad to Put Iraqi Artifacts Online
- Practical Traveler: Apps for the iPhone: A Traveler’s Companion, Pocket Size
- Video Game Review | Borderlands: The Thrill’s in the Gunplay, With Lots of Guns to Play With
- Seeking Deals, Holiday Fliers Get Early Start
- Group of Magazine Publishers Is Said to Be Building an Online Newsstand
MOST SHARED
- The Executive Job Search
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- Activision Prepares to Double Dip on ‘Modern Warfare 2’
- Salvation Army's Kettles Now Credit Card-Ready
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
- Black Friday: Can Banks Tap the Frenzy, Too?
- Foreign Demand Boosts US 7-Year Treasury Sale
- Oil Friday
- Bankruptcies Jump, Hitting Highest Level in Four Years
- AIG, Ex-CEO Greenberg Reach Pact to Settle Disputes
- Bank of America CEO Search May Extend Into 2010
- Steepest Black Friday Discounts, Revealed
- 'Cancer of Fraud' Permeates Health Care System: Critics
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- For Many in US, It Will Be a Scaled-Down Holiday Season
Text Size 
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is considering launching a proxy fight at Yahoo, according to people who have spoken with Icahn.
 |
Shiho Fukada / AP Carl Icahn |
Late last week, Icahn began building a significant position in Yahoo that may be as much as 50 million shares, these sources said.
Yahoo [YHOO
Loading...
()
] shares were recently trading higher.
Although other activist investors had considered mounting a fight to replace all of Yahoo's board, they stood down from that effort when they were unable to get any sense from Microsoft [MSFT
Loading...
()
] that it would support them.
Earlier this month, Microsoft
Icahn also has been unable to get a confirmation that Microsoft will return to the negotiating table should all or part of Yahoo's board be replaced, but unlike other investors, Icahn may choose to forge ahead anyway.
If he does, he seems likely to run a so-called short slate of directors, targeting perhaps three or four of Yahoo's ten board seats.
It would be a risky strategy especially because beyond a deal to sell out to Microsoft, there don't appear to be too many levers to pull in order to create near-term shareholder value.
If Icahn were to win those three or four board seats - as would seem highly likely given investor disenchantment with Yahoo's board - chances are good he could force a deal with Microsoft, if the company is willing.
Icahn has employed a similar strategy in the past. His pressure helped to bring Oracle back to a deal with BEA Systems.
If Icahn wishes to pursue this strategy he will need to act fast as the deadline for a proxy fight is this Thursday.
Meanwhile, Vocal Yahoo dissident shareholder Eric Jackson has decided not to run a competing slate of directors to replace Yahoo's board.
Print
Email
- For nearly three decades, these on-call experts have been dishing advice on how to – and not to – cook turkey.
- Eric Schmidt pledges to create a virtual copy of the Iraq National Museum at Google’s expense.
- Bill Griffeth is taking a leave of absence from CNBC and Power Lunch for a year. Here's a message from Bill.
- More shoppers than ever plan to comparison-shop this season. Who will benefit?
- It may be the most unusual guide to business you'll read.
- How can you get out of debt and back on the road to recovery? Follow these ten steps.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes