Microsoft to Yahoo: “We moved on”
After Jerry Yang did a 180 and nearly begged Microsoft to buy Yahoo, the rumor mills have been churning with commentary on the decline of Yahoo and speculation about what a potential Microsoft acquisition would involve. Steve Ballmer, while at a business luncheon in Sydney, put an end to all this rampant speculation by saying,
We tried at one point to do a partnership around search … and that didn’t work either, and we moved on and they moved on. We are not interested in going back and re-looking at an acquisition. I don’t know why they would be either, frankly.
That pretty much seals it. Despite its rock bottom price, Microsoft is still not interested in buying the failing Yahoo. A partnership might be a possibility but that is all Microsoft is willing to dish out. This is more bad news for Yahoo and it looks like it’ll have to find a way to dig out of its somewhat self-created decline alone for the time being. With Google backing out of the advertisement deal and now Microsoft snubbing its nose at Yahoo, this has not been a good week for Jerry Yang and company.
Absolute dumb move yahoo!.
Congratulations Jerry on receiving a business lesson worth of billions.
Did you really think you can play with the big boys?
Move on? How has the board NOT sacked Yang yet? How have they let this go on so long. If Yahoo shareholders have anyone to be angry with, its Icahn and the rest of the board that have let 6 months go by without a change at the top. How much lower must Yahoo go before they DO something?
Hmmph…and to all those who said Ballmer was an idiot for walking away in the $32+/share range, how savvy is he looking now? If MS wanted it, they could pick it up now for 1/2 or 1/3 the 6 months ago price. Setting aside the balance leaves a lot to invest into what they get in order to fix it. Ballmer is smart, MS still needs to compete with Google, I wouldn’t call the potential of a all out MS buyout gone at all. Actually, it would make most sense if MS went hostile at a lowball price, show the Yahoo board just how badly Yang has destroyed their company.
I watched canadian Guru Kevin O’ Leary on this one. He called them “Idiot Management” for turning down the 33$ offer. I couldn’t agree more with him.
Where did they go from the 33 range? Down the drain, are we gonna see them coming back to the 20-25$ range likley NOT in our lifetime.
@ DavidB…Icahn was the only board member pushing for this acquisition, going so far as a proxy fight to get the deal done. It was Yang and the other board members who caused this catastrophe. I think Microsoft might still buy Yahoo though they’re just seeming uninterested so they can get it for the lowest price if they decided to buy it. Yang’s an idiot.
You learn from failures. Let this be a lesson. Narcissism at its finest.
Oh and Jerry, how did you NOT see the market taking a dump when Bear Stearns was having problems meeting liquidity calls at the same time you were demanding more cash? I know you’re a smart guy, but dumb move pal.
Microsoft has done little to replace or even move toward fixing their problems that the Yahoo acquisition was supposed to help. Google has gained even more dominance since the deal died. Microsoft Stock has also taken a beating in the crazy market, even though they pumped billions into a buy back.
So Yahoo is still Yahoo and Microsoft is sinking with no buckets. I do not see how it is only Yahoo has suffered.
Look for at&t to make a move for yahoo.
@ Greg:
AT&T? Really? I was thinking that maybe Sony would swoop in really fast. Well Sony or Apple.
@ likeabite:
Icahn was NOT even on the board when this deal was going on. He gained his board seat after the deal died and was trying to relive it.
Since, Microsoft would have goobled up Yahoo and none of the culture or technology lined up. How would you know that this deal would have not been a disaster, like Time Warner – AOL as many analysis predicted?
Yang may not be as big an idiot as you think. What business have you ever run successfully or built?
at&t needs more content for uverse, mobile, etc. And they already have an interest (partnership) with at&t yahoo dsl branded offering.
@ Filterman…Yang’s idiocracy has been stated by everyone on this blog, including the BGR staff. Whether Microsoft would’ve ran it into the ground or not is up to speculation but looking at Microsoft’s position and Yahoo’s in looks like it is in favor of Microsoft. They still made a profit this year while Yahoo’s stock continues to tank. If Yang had made such a smart decision in the first place then why is he backpeddling and asking for the deal on the table again?
I never said he was on the board to begin with. He gained his seat after the proxy fight and he was the only one, along with a few backers, who saw the benefits of the Microsoft acquisition. Now Google backed out, its stock price is nowhere near what Microsoft had offered for it before and I doubt anyone would it now. I do not need to have ran a successful business or been in charge of a company to know what an idiotic move is and apparently Yang realized that as well, hence his new stance on the buyout. You should try applying that same logic to yourself since you’re the only one agreeing with his boneheaded move.
I could talk MAD SHIT about all this…
Instead, Ill state the obvious…
Yahoo’s time is done and over.
Jerry Yang is a fucktard idiot.
I hope Yahoo loses all its cash, and Microsoft buys the little bit left of it JUST to spite Jerry!
Icann is the kiss of death for most companies he gets into. Remember Motorola? Remember TWA?
Lesson one, avoid like the plague!
A tie up with another web technology firm is the best policy for them. AOL seems like the best solution, however don’t rule out companies like Tiscali, France Telcom, etc. All would welcome the open standards technology Yahoo! is now building around itself. It’s that which Microsoft would not be able to fold into it’s own ethos and closed platform so I’m not surprised they are no longer interested. Yang has done an excellent job at moving Yahoo! away from closed systems since M$ was last on the scene.
@ Marky…in this case Icahn was doing the right thing and Yang fucked it up. He wanted the acquisition from the beginning.
What he wanted was to line his own pockets at the expense of Yahoo!’s independence, technology and the end-users who would have lost Google’s only competition.
So regardless of his motives are they in a better position now?
Jerry Yang is such a loser.
Rather be a rich loser than a poor one..