The newest piece of CEO Jerry Yang to Yahoo communications dropped into the SEC’s 8-K filings, with an admonition to staffers to stay focused.
Gold Leader: It’s no good down here, I can’t maneuver!
Gold Five: Stay on target.
Gold Leader: *We’re too close!*
Gold Five: Stay on target!
— Y-ahoo Wings picked off by Darth Ballmer above Sunnyvale
Keeping one’s head while someone is trying to shoot it off one’s shoulders is a tough order for anyone. At Yahoo, Microsoft has provided the incoming fire.
Yang is trying his best to deflect the attentions of Microsoft away from his fellow Yahoos. His latest inter-company letter praised staffers for staying focused amid “a lot of talk” about Yahoo.
No decisions have been made, but Yahoo’s management wants to maximize the value of its assets, something that will take some time. That sounds to us like reports of Yahoo wanting more money could be accurate.
Pressure may be coming from shareholders on the Microsoft side, according to Silicon Alley Insider. Microsoft stock has been declining since the company disclosed its bid for Yahoo.
That decline means Microsoft would have to put up more cash to make the original $44.6 billion proposal work. But with the long term results for Microsoft of tripling its search market share, and pulling paid search ad revenue along with that, we think they will find the cash needed to balance out the offer.
For the public interest, here’s Yang’s letter from the SEC filing. In Silicon Valley, billionaires don’t seem to have much use for the Shift key on their keyboards:
Subject: Building on our strengths
yahoos
