Sell your dang company Jerry Yang, you little twit! This little ego game of yours is costing your shareholders billions of dollars. Even worse, your lack of skill in navigating these choppy waters has left you vulnerable to further collapse in share value.
You searched and you searched for a way to stay independent, and you failed. The one partner that was opening the door to opportunity pried its tight purse strings open just a bit more and it wasn’t good enough for the great Jerry Yang.
In fact, when I first learned that Microsoft was making an unsolicited offer to buy your company, I almost choked on my coffee!
You are a moron, sir!
Wait a minute, this just in: We never received a written offer for $33 per share.
There is more: Yang says the door to a deal has not closed. My god, my dead grandmother could bluff better than you, Mr. Yang!
The spin doctors are out in full force. Yes indeed, the board says shareholders were on board with the rejection of the original $31 offer. Here is what they failed to tell you: Shareholders would have gladly taken $35 per share and maybe a bit less if that was as good as the deal was going to get. It was your job, Mr. Genius, to play this deal through! You should have seen the writing on the wall when other entities failed to step up to the plate. It was all there in black-and-white and still you messed it all up.
As the Rational Investor, I can appreciate doubting market pricing mechanisms, but not in this case. You had the entire world essentially telling you how to proceed and then you managed to anger the one partner that would have saved your little behind. Watching you scramble in the aftermath is truly hilarious, transparent and a bit ridiculous. Are you seriously earning that huge compensation package, the board so generously approved? I doubt it.
I guess the good news is that with you now showing your hand, a hand that anyone with eyes could have seen all along, maybe, just maybe a deal can get done. What will be interesting is to see if Microsoft (MSFT) will take you back. I suspect they will, since the stakes are too high. You have a nice asset that will fit perfectly with Microsoft’s effort to take on Google (GOOG). By the way, did you notice the one big winner in all of this was GOOG? On a down day, GOOG was up very nicely thank you very much. But, wait, we did a two week test of placing GOOG ads on the YHOO site. That will be worth billions right? Just you wait and see says management.
Seriously, are you that dumb? Microsoft is just waiting to hit you with an unfair competition suit if you do proceed with that juvenile plan. The Justice Department is watching Jerry. Thanks much for bringing shareholders new risks that jeopardize value. At the end of the day, Microsoft will indeed take you back, but I suspect the penalty for this will be a deal that gets done at the original price. If Ballmer is feeling generous he might throw you a bone, $1 at best.
Jerry Yang, the market is telling you what to do. You have a second chance to save the day. Now go forth and beg Microsoft to come back and do just as they say!
Jamie Dluglosh isn’t the only one who is upset about the Yahoo and Microsoft merger! John Dessauer, editor of Investor’s World, thinks there might be a hostile takeover in the near future! Read his commentary in the May issue of Investor’s World by signing up for your risk-free trial subscription today!
