Though beset by restive shareholders and pressure from Carl Icahn, Yang has his reasons to push for a better deal from MicrosoftFor more than a month, Yahoo (YHOO) co-founder and Chief Executive Jerry Yang has endured a withering attack by shareholders who say he let a $47.5 billion acquisition bid by Microsoft slip through his fingers. The apparent obstinacy, which Microsoft (MSFT) says fueled its decision to walk away on May 3, was laid bare in a shareholder lawsuit. The documents, unsealed June 2, allege Yang and Yahoo's board created deal-killing measures, including an expensive employee severance package.
On June 3, corporate raider Carl Icahn joined the pile-on. Icahn, who's trying to win seats on Yahoo's board in hopes of reigniting a Microsoft-Yahoo merger, echoed the lawsuit's charges that "Yang's deep hostility toward Microsoft" and his "defensive and self-interested conduct" scuttled the deal. Icahn also told The Wall Street Journal that if his proxy campaign is successful, he'll try to oust Yang, whose company's stock has plummeted from 33.63 a share on Oct. 26 to 26.15 on June 3, a drop of more than 22%.
Protective Stance
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