Shareholders Give Yahoo a Vote of Confidence
Leaders Deflect Criticism, Set Out To Recast Company
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Saturday, August 2, 2008; Page D01
SAN JOSE -- Having endured takeover attempts by Microsoft and then billionaire investor Carl Icahn, executives and board members at Internet giant Yahoo sought to assure rattled shareholders at the annual meeting here yesterday that the company has a plan for regaining its momentum after a multiyear stall.
Shareholders, for their part, largely expressed faith in the current board. In voting, each board member received more than 75 percent of shareholder ballots.
As a result, the meeting came as a relatively peaceful coda to six months of tumult and bickering over the future of Yahoo, one of the world's most popular Web destinations.
Icahn, who made headlines by calling for the removal of chief executive Jerry Yang, did not attend, though he had earned a board seat in the negotiations.
"This is a company that we are determined and very excited to transform," Yang told the crowd, which filled fewer than half the seats in an auditorium at the Fairmont Hotel.
Chairman Roy Bostock and Yang, who have been vilified for passing up a $33-a-share offer from Microsoft (the current share price stands at around $20), repeatedly said they always negotiated with shareholders' interests in mind.
Bostock dismissed claims that the board had resisted Microsoft's offer and that it was never really interested in ceding control.
"The board controlled the process of dealing with Microsoft right from the start," Bostock said. "We called the shots, and we were deeply involved."
He repeated Yahoo's assertion that it was Microsoft who backed away.
"At no point did . . . we ever resist Microsoft's proposal," he said. "In fact, we proactively engaged with them."
Bostock received one of the lowest approval percentages from shareholders, with 79 percent; Yang received 85 percent. Since the slate was unopposed, shareholders expressed disapproval by withholding votes.
While the takeover frays appear to be over, Yahoo remains a company that has in recent years performed below investor expectations despite a massive global presence.
