Microsoft prepares to do battle to oust Yahoo's board of directors
Microsoft set the stage for a full-blown battle to overthrow Yahoo's board of directors yesterday when it declared it was interested in reopening talks to buy all or part of the internet company - but only if a new board was appointed first.
The intervention, less than a month before Yahoo's annual meeting, gives backing to the flagging efforts of activist investor Carl Icahn to unseat Jerry Yang, Yahoo's chief executive, and the rest of the board that failed to reach agreement on Microsoft's earlier takeover offer.
It also breathes life into Microsoft's six-month battle with Yahoo, which had fallen into a lull in the three weeks since Yahoo reached a separate search advertising alliance with Google. After that, Microsoft had left open a proposal of its own to acquire Yahoo's search business, although it had also said it was no longer interested in buying the whole company.
