Carl Icahn tells the WSJ he would fire Yahoo's CEO Jerry Yang if he grabs control of the board. And nobody in our industry will defend one of our web entrepreneurs and we just accept a rank outsider - Carl's - word as gospel?
Since when did it become a crime for a Yahoo or BEA to spurn a bid from Microsoft or Oracle? I have written before we are behaving as if the only way to deliver shareholder value in technology is through M&A.
I sure would like to see my peers in technology at least give some moral support to Jerry as he fights for his belief that he can do better with his company independent.
Update: See my update Technology Euthanasia about how companies have revived themselves - Apple, HP, IBM among them - and see Larry Dignan's angle on the theme
Vinnie
I agree. What does delivering shareholder value really mean? What timescales are we looking at? This is such a short sighted way of looking at things. Yahoo is a mess, and I was convinced the deal would go through, but M&A is not the answer all the time
Posted by: Deepak | June 04, 2008 at 01:41 AM
In response to the other comment, if 'M&A is not the answer' what exactly IS the answer?
If Jerry had an 'answer' he wouldn't be having this problem.
Posted by: css | June 04, 2008 at 09:50 AM
Chris, how many tens of billions of shareholder value has Yahoo delivered over the last 15 years - as a web pioneer? And our industry is filled with examples of companies that revived themselves - Apple, IBM HP...they have generated far more value since their turnarounds than a one-time 30 to 40% premium their shareholders would have received if they had been acquired.
Posted by: vinnie mirchandani | June 04, 2008 at 10:10 AM
Icahn has one idea, and one idea only - sell to MS. I doubt greatly that Icahn is capable of doing anything with Yahoo - he's only looking for a quick flip. Your point is well-made, Vinnie
Posted by: Ric | June 18, 2008 at 12:16 AM