Christmas – or at least August 1st – has come early. It seems the Yahoo-Icahn proxy mess is resolving itself, with both parties agreeing to a compromise that’ll put Icahn and two of his supporters on Yahoo’s board of directors.
This will give Icahn three seats out of 11, meaning the existing Yahoo management is staying in control. Jerry Yang and Roy Bostock are even covered by the deal (only Robert Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, isn’t seeking reelection), so the same old faces will be at the company’s top.
Carl Icahn
As for those “distort, omit and twist” accusations that got tossed around? Um, never mind. Icahn stated, “While I continue to believe that the sale of the whole Company or the sale of its Search business in the right transaction must be given full consideration, I share the view that Yahoo!’s valuable collection of assets positions it well to continue expanding its online leadership and enhancing returns to stockholders.”
Also, “I believe this is a good outcome and that we will have a strong working relationship going forward.”
Had that statement been released a month or so ago, this development would look like a total Yahoo victory. The one problem is that major investors have sided with Yahoo since then, making the concessions to Icahn seem less necessary. And whether it’s due to this issue or a loss of acquisition hope, Yahoo’s shares are down about 3.30 percent as the market opens.
