04
May
2008
|
12:51 PM
America/Los_Angeles

Yang Seeks To Boost Yahoo! Shares In Wake Of Lost MSFT Deal

Jerry Yang, co-founder and CEO of Yahoo! Sunday evening said Yahoo! had become a stronger company following Microsoft's acquisition bid and its subsequent withdrawal.

Writing on the Yahoo corporate blog Yodel Anecdotal Mr Yang argued that the experience of the last 13 weeks had changed the company.


We’ve been living under the microscope in a way we never have before. There has been greater attention than ever on our strategy and our ability to execute against it.


. . . We’ve emerged a stronger, more focused company with an even greater sense of purpose.


Yahoo! shareholders are bracing themselves for a sharp drop in the company's share price Monday morning, which could return to under $20 a share.

Foremski's Take: Mr Yang has yet to prove that Yahoo! is back on track. The online advertising market is set to double over the next three years and a rising tide lifts all boats.

Microsoft may have dodged a bullet in that Yahoo! would require a lot of integration effort. MSFT could gain many of the advantages of a Yahoo! acquisition in other ways by exploiting Yahoo's weakness in its ability to execute on strategic programs.