In a move that comes as somewhat of a surprise, Carl Icahn spent the first three days of this week spending $67 million on shares of Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO). He bought 6.8 million shares for an average of $9.92 bringing his total stake to 75.6 million million shares -- roughly 5.5%of the company.Given that Icahn's nemesis, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang is on the way out, Icahn may be positioning himself to have considerable say in the company's choice of successor. Icahn controls three seats on the company's board of directors.
The market value of the company has taken a beating since Icahn got involved. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) had offered to acquire the company for $33 per share. Yang spurned that offer and it was withdrawn in May. The stock now sits right around the $10 mark.
Icahn's decision to up his stake in the company signals some level of long-term confidence now that any kind of major deal with Microsoft seems like a remote possibility. But the question shareholders have to ask is, as valuable as Icahn is on matters of corporate governance, does he really have the expertise that will make him a valuable contributor to the internet company's search for a CEO?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-28-2008 @ 2:36PM
Roger Fulton said...
Guys like this always puzzle me. I remember a quote from Bruce Willis, who, after making a dud movie, Hudson Hawk, said, after critics trashed him, " who cares, I have enough money now, to skip rocks in the river for the rest of my life."
Then, he goes back in the biz and continues. Were it me, I would have hit the banks, grabbed a margarita, read a dozen books, cruised, toured the Riviera, lived and loved life.
Bored Rooms are boring, filled with "Yes Men" scratching their way to the top over the backs of others. When i$ enough enough$
Icahn will someday be like the CEO of Monster - one day cutting a deal, next day at room temperature. What a tragedy.
Roger Fulton
Yuma