Yahoo chief on conflicting approaches about Microsoft's bid(1)

2008-05-07 00:01:38 [ Big Normal Small ]    　Comment

Jerry Yang, Yahoo CEO and co-founder, speaks during a keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jan. 7, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)
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    BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Jerry Yang, Yahoo's co-founder and chief executive, revealed Monday conflicting approaches in his company towards Microsoft's surprise bid to buy his company and the three-month business saga that ensued.

    Yang said he was open to selling Yahoo to Microsoft all along, but that Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, and his dealmakers ultimately declined to negotiate and withdrew their proposal on Saturday with little explanation.

The Yahoo headquarters in Sunnyvale, California.(Xinhua/AFP File Photo)
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    "They chose to walk away after we put a price on the table, and they didn't want to negotiate," Yang said. "From my perspective, we were open all along to selling to Microsoft. We just feel Yahoo, either standalone or with Microsoft, is worth more than what they put on the table."

    Yang's account conflicts with that of Microsoft's advisors and executives. They have said that they received no counteroffer from Yahoo for three months, after Microsoft's deadline to consummate the deal had expired. They also said that Yang and his board offered various prices of 37 U.S. dollars a share or above and ultimately refused to budge on those numbers.

    Microsoft had raised its initial bid to 33 U.S. dollars a share when Yang and his co-founder, David Filo, met with Ballmer and other Microsoft executives at the Seattle airport on Saturday. The Yahoo founders said their board had authorized an acquisition at 37 U.S. dollars a share.

Microsoft announced an unexpected 44.6-billion-dollar bid for Yahoo Friday, as a latest move by the software giant to challenge Google's dominance of the lucrative online search and advertising markets.(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)
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