Yahoo Urges Shareholders to Back Its Board
Yahoo! urged shareholders to support its nominations to the board of directors over the objections of one dissident hoping gain more control over the board.
In a letter to shareholders on Wednesday, Yahoo! talked up its five new board recruits, chosen to replace four directors who have volunteered not to pursue re-election.
Click here to see Yahoo's board member picks.
Yahoo's selections exclude the recommendations of one very vocal shareholder Daniel Loeb, who runs the hedge fund Third Point, and owns a 5.8 percent stake in Yahoo.
Loeb has directly criticized Scott Thompson for leaving shareholders out of key decisions, and will likely not warm to the news that his picks: NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker, former MTV executive Michael Wolf, restructuring expert Harry Wilson and Loeb himself, are not on the company's list.
The new hires, if voted in, are expected to manage a new organizational structure, which Yahoo says will consist of three groups: "consumer, regions and technology." This new plan, not thoroughly explained in the letter to shareholders, is intended to make Yahoo smaller and more profitable.
Yahoo promised shareholders on Wednesday that if it can successfully "monetize significant value at the right time," it would return capital to shareholders — typically in the form of a dividend.
Shares of the company remained fairly flat after the letter release.
