Yahoo! to investors: We're a bad investment

Posted Jul 2nd 2008 12:06PM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Yahoo! (YHOO)

In a PowerPoint-style presentation intended to rebuke criticism of its commitment to enhancing shareholder value, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) attacks Carl Icahn's recent track record as an investor.

One slide points out that 11 of Icahn's 15 most recent investments in public companies have declined in value since he took his position. But what exactly is Yahoo!'s point? That Icahn is a lousy investor and probably wrong for investing in Yahoo! too? If that's the case, then they'd better sell the company while they can before it turns into another Icahn dud!

It's hard to see where Yahoo!'s going with its argument. It's true that Icahn appears to be scuffling of late, although it's far too early to tell how some of those investments will play out. Icahn is in it for the long-term and, over the long-term, his track record is phenomenal. He's at number 48 on the Forbes list! It would be nice to see Yahoo devote its energy to building shareholder value rather than trying to make one of its major shareholders look bad.

Yahoo also raised doubts about the sincerity of Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ: MSFT) acquisition attempt, without really presenting any evidence. If this is the best Yahoo can do, Icahn has to be feeling pretty good about his chances with the proxy fight.

Tags: Carl Icahn, CarlIcahn, featured, Microsoft, MSFT, Yahoo, YHOO