Yahoo willing to reopen talks, was just kidding around about $37

After the beating the company is taking in the stock market, and with several prominent investors stepping forward to express dissatisfaction with how things were handled, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang says he was willing to discuss things further if Microsoft hadn't turned its back on the offer. "We did not say it was a take-it-or-leave-it number in the sense that we would never negotiate any more," he said, referring to the $37 figure. "We were totally willing to do a transaction, and they walked away." Deep down we know he's just miffed to be missing out on sleeping bag to sleeping bag discussions with Ballmer about adding an exclamation mark to Microsoft. Dream on, Yang.

[Via Silicon Valley Insider]

Update: Microsoft claims "we've moved on."

[SyR @ May 6th 2008 8:48AM]

Now this is pretty funny...

[tom @ May 6th 2008 9:05AM]

Soap Opera...i can't wait to see what's next !

[danny @ May 6th 2008 10:52AM]

Ballmer's reaction is probably going to be something like that of the big guy in Mysterious Skin who is Neil's last "client". Where Neil = Yahoo!.

I know no one will get that reference but what the hell.

[riceball @ May 6th 2008 8:54AM]

This really makes me LOL...

[jpxdude @ May 6th 2008 8:53AM]

One word:

Desperate

[Trax @ May 6th 2008 9:50AM]

Housewife

[kal326 @ May 6th 2008 9:07PM]

Nah, a word more in the spirt of yahoo....Duuummmmmmbbbbbbbbbbbbfuck!

[Dude @ May 6th 2008 8:55AM]

Ballmer drank his milkshake.

[Jim @ May 6th 2008 11:30AM]

Draaaaaainnnnnage!!!!

[Draaaainage! @ May 6th 2008 3:11PM]

Am I too late to say it? OH NO, I missed the bandwagon for my own name!

DRAAAAAAAIIIINAGE!!

Drained dry, I'm so sorry.

[Timmy @ May 6th 2008 8:55AM]

Down on your knees and beg, bitch!!!
Who?s your daddy!
Say it!
Come on baby you can say it!
Now beg like the little bitch that you are!!!

[Ari @ May 6th 2008 8:55AM]

the sad part is Microsoft needs to get this done to battle Google but now it probably won't happen.

[Kevin Farley @ May 6th 2008 10:44AM]

A little short sighted, this isn't all that uncommon a negotiating technique, look how Microsoft has successfully driven down the Yahoo stock price, next will come a little more "awe... cooommmmmeee ooooonnnnnn", then will come the bargain basement takeover bid that overvalues Yahoo by $10 per share at a whoping $28. When you play hardball sometimes you're hit by the pitch... silly Yang.

[Andir3.0 @ May 6th 2008 2:07PM]

"Microsoft needs to get this done to battle Google"

Since when?

[Timmy @ May 6th 2008 8:57AM]

Sweet reference!

[Timmy @ May 6th 2008 8:58AM]

This was meant for Dudes comment.

[Whtrbt7 @ May 6th 2008 8:59AM]

I bet there's going to be an additional 8% drop on the sight of this post!

[Achilles @ May 6th 2008 9:05AM]

This really is funny.

"Oh, did I say $37 per share?? hehehe... I was just kidding.... Umm, want to have dinner and talk about it??? We can still be friends.... lol

[John @ May 6th 2008 9:04AM]

Jerry Yang is an idiot. Obviously $35 is more than a good deal to take when your company's stock is in the shitter, the economy is in a slump, and when Microsoft's stock is clearly taking a hit for even proposing an offer to a second-rate internet business like Yahoo.

[daedalus @ May 6th 2008 9:07AM]

Microwhoops!!

[JayMonster @ May 6th 2008 9:08AM]

C'mon Jerry... using the "nuh..uhhh I didn't rebuff them... they like totally left ME" is NOT going to stop the inevitable lawsuits that will be coming your way.

Did you think the stock market had your price up there because of your, "we are like gonna be real rich and totally dominate everybody... in 3 years" speech?

Now the stock takes a hit, and the only reason it isn't worse is because there are people out there that think Microsoft may still do it, and you are surprised and after running around trying to court anybody and everybody to save your from Microsoft, you are trying to place the blame on them? Good gravy man, do you have no self-respect?

If you really think that the stock was undervalued at 34, then right now you should consider it a steal, and should be buying up shares. Are you buying up shares Jerry? Putting you money where your mouth is? No... hmmm.... what's the matter, not drinking your own Kool-Aid?

[Ray-- @ May 6th 2008 9:51AM]

i agree 200%

[Tony @ May 6th 2008 9:12AM]

Funny, prior to Monday's stock beating, Yang released a statement saying that with Microsoft's unwelcome bid behind them, they could focus...

... now he's saying it's really a welcome bid and they'll surely negotiate?

The headline of this article should really read:

Jerry Yang says: "OOPS!"

Personally I think it was a horrible idea from the very beginning. I also remember reading one "analyst" describe it as gross misconduct saying that Yang was putting "employees and job security" ahead of profits, to which I say: Bravo. I wish more companies would put their employees ahead of Wall Street's expectations.

"What's that, our profit didn't grow quite as much as you thought it should have grown? Let's slash thousands of jobs an put people out of work."

:P

[Alexander @ May 6th 2008 9:53AM]

Too bad that now because of his thinking for the people, he's now going to cost all those people their jobs.

[JayMonster @ May 7th 2008 12:34PM]

I don't think Jerry was putting Job Security of employees first. He was putting his EGO first.

There was Billions put aside by Microsoft (based on reports) for employee retention funding.

The only job Jerry was trying to save was his own. And whether he will actually do that will now be all about next quarter's numbers since everybody will be looking at them under a microscope.

[nathan.wong @ May 6th 2008 9:12AM]

Just goes to show that you should leave your company private and not make it public. Then you wouldn't need to listen to your investors and you're free to do whatever you want. You won't be a trillionare but you will have control of your company and its destination.

[Michael Chastain @ May 6th 2008 12:06PM]

Then your competitors, who have more money that god because they did go public, are able to grow and develop much more quickly than you are and eventually make you completely irrelevant. You're left penniless and dreaming about the time you could have gone public and made a fortune.

Life is a crap shoot. There are pros and cons to every decision.

[Hiro11 @ May 6th 2008 9:12AM]

Jerry Yang and the rest of Yahoo!'s leadership are idiots. Yahoo has had essentially no strategic vision since about 2001, completely f'ed up their Google takeover attempt in 02, has irretreivably lost ground in online advertizing and has allowed their site to become a disorganized mess of mediocre-quality services. Do people really think, given Google's momentum and Microsofts mountains of cash and diversification, that Yahoo!'s stock is going to go over $30 within the next year or so? $33 was an extremely fair offer for the company. Shareholder lawsuits off the port bow.

[MasterCKO @ May 6th 2008 3:01PM]

"Shareholder lawsuits off the port bow."

Yep.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/technology/yahoo-shareholders-file-amended-complaint-pending-class-action-seek-redress/-2047341965

[Drew @ May 6th 2008 9:19AM]

I'm surprised Yang has not been killed yet...

[Zed @ May 6th 2008 7:18PM]

Jerry will now go back to microsoft and a conversation will go like this:
Jerry: "We could probably go for the $33."
Ballmer: "Oh, well... $33 is off the table, the offer is now $26."
Jerry: "Doh! How about $30"
Ballmer: "Sorry, but I've got a lunch appointment. Maybe we could talk later."
Jerry: "Alright! Alright! $26 it is."
Ballmer: "... oh, and drop off this dry cleaning for me."
Jerry: "Yessir."

[Matt @ May 6th 2008 7:22PM]

Could he be scambling to save his job in the waking tsunami of investor revolt that is approaching?

[Steffen Jobbs @ May 6th 2008 9:42AM]

Nice way to manipulate Yahoo stock. Yang and company can tell their friends that they're first gonna refuse to play ball with Microsoft to drop the stock down a bit and then have their friends buy up thousands of shares only to re-open negotiations and run the stock up again. I almost hope that Microsoft tells them to forget it or offers them a lot less than before. Yahoo thinks it's in a position to play hardball. I don't think so.

[xValentine @ May 6th 2008 9:45AM]

Payback will be a bitch.

-Microsoft

[Munkcy @ May 6th 2008 9:45AM]

Microsoft: "It's not you, it's me...."

Yahoo: "You're giving me the 'It's not you, it's me' routine? I invented 'It's not you, it's me.' Nobody tells me it's them, not me. If it's anybody, it's me."

Microsoft: "Alright, Yahoo, it's you."

Yahoo: "You're damn right it's me."

[Sam @ May 6th 2008 9:52AM]

I don't think Jerry was thinking about Yahoo! employees at all in this transaction. With the Microsoft transaction they would have all been able to cash out on their options for some decent money. Now, many of them will be lucky to get anything for those options. They certainly won't ever get what they would have under this transaction.... not to mention the retention bonuses and such.

Sure... they would have had to learn to play nicey nicey with Microsoft, but this would have given them a payout for their work to date... within a year or two (maybe three) they could move on to other things.

Stupid. If there isn't a law suit out of this I'll be amazed.

[Miami Diver @ May 6th 2008 9:52AM]

I bet Yang is having nightmares of Yahoo's shareholders cheering like a WWE mob at Steve Balmer, "Give him the chair! The Chair! AGGHHHHHH!"

[Ray-- @ May 6th 2008 9:54AM]

then dont take your company public and use other peoples money to run it... then you wont have to answer to "wall street" aka the people who give money to the company so they can do projects that employ you in the first place.

[w00t @ May 6th 2008 9:55AM]

I was waiting for this to happen, who's willing to bet the shareholders had something to do with this when they saw the stock prices this morning

[Matt @ May 6th 2008 10:00AM]

Adding an exclamation mark... priceless.
Microsoft!

[Billy Gun @ May 6th 2008 12:36PM]

LOL hahhahhahhahhahhahhahhahhahhahahha!

[Daniel @ May 6th 2008 10:12AM]

Sure, Yahoo is begging like a weenie right now, but their stock is hardly taking a real beating.

They were valued around $18/share before Microsoft's bid, and today they're still at $25/share.

Their stock price was only artificially inflated during Microsoft's maneuvers because investors thought they'd make big money. But after the deal went off the table, they're still up around $7/share.

[John @ May 6th 2008 11:51AM]

People still think that Microsoft may take a stab at it, and Microsoft showing interest in a takeover makes people think that the company is worth something after all.

[bonedog73 @ May 6th 2008 10:14AM]

This just shows what kind of management Yahoo has..

[D @ May 6th 2008 10:43AM]

PWNED!!!!!
Now if only Master Chief could be called upon to teabag Jerry Yang....!

[RG man @ May 7th 2008 3:34PM]

Well color me surprised.

[spm.peapot @ May 6th 2008 11:09AM]

Yang can't cook!!

[DP @ May 6th 2008 12:35PM]

Very good. Only a few got this one.

[blade417 @ May 6th 2008 2:59PM]

If Yan Can Cook...

(can't remember the second part)
It's either 'You can too'
or 'So can you'...

help me out guys.

[SystemsThinker @ May 6th 2008 11:54AM]

I really hope this deal never happens. The whole thing reminds me of that great Onion article, "Just Six Corporations Remain"

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29006