Still jonesin’ from last Friday’s Microsoft/Yahoo buzz hysteria, there are reports that Yahoo could end this Friday with a major announcement, giving us all something to talk about over the weekend. Whether that happens or not, it’s clear that Yahoo doesn’t have much more time to make a decision.
The New York Post reported that Yahoo’s largest investor, Capital Research and Management, met with Microsoft yesterday to see if the Beast of Redmond would sweeten the deal any, especially since Microsoft has a reputation of overpaying for it what wants, whether it be aQuantive ($6 billion) or a tiny chunk of Facebook ($240 million).
When large investors are discussing things like that it pretty much indicates there’s a lot of pressure on CEO Jerry Yang and other vehement Yahooligan defenders to take the money and run—and do it today.
One source says it will be today some time, as Yahoo has called together a special board meeting to decide. Another source says they could reasonably take another week, which means we might see the relationship cemented just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Awwwww.
But it will be one of those creepy arranged marriages where Yahoo, the aging belle of an earlier ball, is sold into Microsoft domination. And there’s no Prince Charming in sight. Softbank, considered Yahoo’s only hope for an outright counter-offer, has bowed out, and Google isn’t seen as much help either.
That doesn’t matter some at Yahoo’s campus though, who are eagerly and defiantly working to thwart Microsoft’s proposal, even if it means handing over their search and search advertising to Google.
Which is sort of like chewing off your own leg to get out of a trap. Not only could that result in more Yahoo layoffs (who of course would head over to Microsoft anyway, probably), but the antitrust feds would be on them like a boxer pup on a meatloaf.
At any rate, we’ll know today or we won’t.
