Yahoo team re-elected after getting an earful -CALIFORNIA
Shareholders back board after blasting executives over failed takeover talks with Microsoft
SAN JOSE (CALIFORNIA) - YAHOO executives were resoundingly re-elected last Friday after being berated by shareholders over failed takeover talks with Microsoft.
Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang got 85.4 per cent of the votes cast by shareholders while board chairman Roy Bostock got the support of 79.5 per cent of the shareholders. The weakest support was shown for incumbent Arthur Kern, who won 77.9 per cent of the votes.
‘It does look like they have support of the shareholders again but at the end of the day, they have to focus on the company goals and execute,’ said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.
The votes were tallied after Mr Yang and Mr Bostock, two key players in drama-filled negotiations with Microsoft, faced approximately 150 shareholders in a hotel ballroom in downtown San Jose, California.
Voices of support and criticism rose from the gathering, with one shareholder calling for Mr Bostock to resign and another praising Yahoo for saving the firm from ‘over-the-hill green-tentacled octopus’ Microsoft.
‘I think you overpaid on compensation; I think you overplayed your hand with Microsoft, and I think you overstayed your welcome after last year’s vote and should do the honourable thing and step down from this board,’ stockholder Eric Jackson of Ironfire Capital said.
Mr Bostock responded with a ‘No’. He added: ‘The board controlled the process of dealing with Microsoft right from the beginning.
‘We called the shots and were deeply involved in every step.’
Mr Bostock said the Yahoo board never resisted Microsoft’s proposal to buy Yahoo and that it was the US software giant that capriciously walked away from negotiations.
Microsoft walked away from negotiations on May 3 after Yahoo rejected an offer it raised from US$31 to US$33 per share, which amounted to US$47.5 billion (S$65 billion).
‘Yahoo is attempting to rewrite history yet again with statements that are not supported by the facts,’ Microsoft said of the Yahoo presentation.
Yahoo executives promised that the struggling Internet pioneer remained on course throughout the Microsoft drama and is poised for more profitable days ahead.
‘We’ve been rewiring the company,’ Mr Yang told stockholders that had been plied with coffee, pastries, juice and fresh fruit. ‘This is a very global business and Yahoo is very well-positioned.’
Yahoo avoided an ugly showdown with corporate raider Carl Icahn, whose campaign to overthrow the board was ended by a truce that gains him three seats.
