Move on the buyout position
A former PayPal president, Scott Thompson assumes Yahoo's big chair at an acutely dynamic and also slippery moment. Alibaba, China's giant web firm which is actually 40% Yahoo owned, is girding to make a bid for Yahoo itself. It's gone as far as hiring a Washington-based lobbying firm, and this is being seen as an enormous sign that it has designs on Yahoo. Alibaba's Jack Ma scribbled the writing on the wall, in no uncertain terms, back in September saying he would love to buy Yahoo "if the opportunity presented itself," and now he seems to have pushed this by trying to arrange the situation.
Yahoo's board is said to be resistant to the idea, in the same way cofounder and then CEO Jerry Yang (disastrously?) turned down a bid from Microsoft in 2008 for $45 billion, with the firm now worth less than half of this, and has been maneuvering to protect or dispose of assets that may be the most attractive to Alibaba--such as Yahoo Japan.
Thompson needs to solidify Yahoo's position immediately. Either the firm needs to defend against buyout situations like this or it needs to consider them seriously. There're a host of issues with the potential Alibaba buyout, not the least being a Chinese ownership may upset U.S. regulators, but to dismiss it outright may be foolish. And where Alibaba is interested in treading, others may also be tempted.
Fix the board
Hiring a hot new CEO, one with demonstrable success in control of a different but massive Net firm, is potentially a good move. But Yahoo's board is itself in trouble. Look at what's really happened over the last year or so: Unsure of its direction, Yahoo's board failed to oust unpopular CEO Carol Bartz last June and thus irritated many shareholders. Yahoo lost its position as the No. 1 ad seller to Facebook, Bartz failed to deliver on her promise to turn the juggernaut around, Yahoo's profits slid continuously, and even when Yahoo won headlines read: "Is Yahoo's ...
[Source: Fast Company]
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