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Icahn on board at Yahoo, but still sniffing for sale
Yahoo Inc. is giving in to Carl Icahn, granting him three seats on its board of directors in an attempt to appease the incendiary investor and snuffing out at least some of the fireworks at its upcoming annual meeting.
In a statement, billionaire Icahn said he was pleased with the move, but left open the possibility that he would still push for a sale of the Internet icon. Icahn, who owns almost 5 percent of Yahoo’s outstanding stock, has been pushing to replace Yahoo’s entire board of directors and to resume talks with Microsoft Corp., which was at least previously interested in buying all or part of the Internet company.
“I am very pleased that this settlement will allow me to work in partnership with Yahoo!’s Board and management team to help the Company achieve its full potential,” Icahn said. “While I continue to believe that the sale of the whole company or the sale of its search business in the right transaction must be given full consideration, I share the view that Yahoo!’s valuable collection of assets positions it well to continue expanding its online leadership and enhancing returns to stockholders.”
Though the agreement may have becalmed Icahn, don’t expect that Yahoo’s annual meeting Aug. 1 will be all handshakes and happy talk.
They may not be as rich and influential as Icahn, a lot of other Yahoo investors are still pretty unhappy with Yahoo managers’ handling of the Microsoft bid, and think their shares are worth a whole lot more than the $21.75 or so they’re trading at today.
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