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Microsoft to Yahoo With A Little Bit Pregnant Plan
By Joseph Hunkins at May 18, 2008 0 CommentsAfter Yahoo spurned their initial offer Microsoft said they were no longer in the game to aquire Yahoo. However corporate raider Carl Icahn entered the fray last week with a proposal that would force Yahoo into Microsoft’s arms, netting Icahn a huge payday if Microsoft ponied up the $33+ they were clearly willing to pay before.
As if this deal was not already complicated enough, Microsoft is now proposing to Yahoo some form of collaboration on search, presumably a deal where Microsoft and Yahoo search teams would team up against Google.
We’ll have to wait for more to critique the plan but at first glance I’d suggest this is a weaker plan than a full aquisition as it will wind up connecting two challenged search divisions at a time when clear, bold, innovative leadership is needed. I can’t imagine Jerry Yang working under Microsoft guidance and getting much done, and conversely I can’t see him successfully directing Microsoft folks towards the search success that has been eluding Yahoo for so long.
Disclosure: I’m still long on YHOO
Labels: Microsoft, msft, Yahoo, YHOO
