Wall $treet Folly

Yahoo wins, Icahn settles for one board seat now with two others from his slate to also be chosen

With the chances of success for Carl Icahn's proxy fight slate seeming more remote after Legg Mason's Bill Miller said that he was supporting the Yahoo status quo, a compromise deal was reached.  Carl Icahn is getting a seat on Yahoo's board of directors, and the company will choose two more directors from Icahn's slate.  So Jerry Yang and company sound like the big winners here, avoiding the proxy fight.  Icahn's representation on the board isn't in the majority with only three of eleven seats, as an insider, he's effectively muzzled from the press for now so he can't make lots of noise to the outside world, and we suspect that Microsoft isn't likely to want to negotiate with the company as a result, so the prospect of a full Microsoftl purchase is probably dead.  Bottom line for shareholders: They get the short end of the stick.  Blech.

Icahn said:

"I am very pleased that this settlement will allow me to work in partnership with Yahoo!'s Board and management team to help the Company achieve its full potential. While I continue to believe that the sale of the whole Company or the sale of its Search business in the right transaction must be given full consideration, I share the view that Yahoo!'s valuable collection of assets positions it well to continue expanding its online leadership and enhancing returns to stockholders. I believe this is a good outcome and that we will have a strong working relationship going forward. Additionally, I am happy that the board has agreed in the settlement agreement that any meaningful transaction, including the strategy in dealing with that transaction, will be fully discussed with the entire board before any final decision is made."

Is Icahn really pleased?  Somehow we doubt it.
Yahoo! Announces Settlement with Carl Icahn - MarketWatch

Legg Mason won't be supporting Icahn's Yahoo slate; They're backing the status quo that they believe has "acted with care and diligence" in reviewing Microsoft's offers

The melodrama continues:  According to Reuters, Carl Icahn won't have the backing of Legg Mason's 60.7 million Yahoo shares (4.4% of the stock) in his quest to unseat Yahoo directors. Bill Miller is supporting the incumbants.

"We believe the current board acted with care and diligence when evaluating Microsoft's offers," Legg Mason said in a statement. "We believe the board is independent and focused on value creation for long-term shareholders."

Legg Mason to back Yahoo board slate - Reuters

Begging to keep their jobs: Yahoo sends another nag letter to its shareholders: blah, blah, blah, blah....

The ongoing war continues as Yahoo's August 1 shareholder meeting gets closer.  Yahoo has sent yet another nag letter to its shareholders begging for their jobs while proclaiming that they continue to look for ways to maximize sharholder value (as if they've done such a great job so far) and warning them away from the evil, deceptive and self serving value destroyers Carl Icahn and Microsoft. Blah, blah, blah, blah....

The Icahn Report: Carl responds to criticism from the Chicago Tribune's Eric Benderoff

After Carl's blog finally went live, he was criticized in a 6/19/08 Chicago Tribune blog article penned by Eric Benderoff entitled "Memo to blogger Icahn: Give Power to the people, not your lawyers".  Benderoff took the new blog to task over its format and legalities.  Icahn responds, telling him that his activist status requires the format and legalities, but that he (Benderoff) has missed the mark: that the blog is looking to expose bad corporate governance behavior, and hopefully over time, some of the restrictions will ease, but for now, it is what it is.

You could get whiplash following Microsoft / Yahoo: Carl Icahn's statement followed by Microsoft's says a deal is still possible, but not with this board

Carl Icahn sent an open letter to Yahoo shareholders regarding the Microsoft / Yahoo situation, and it seems that Microsoft is indeed still interested in  possibly doing a deal to buy the whole company or Yahoo's search business.  But they can't do it with the current board in place.  Microsoft also just issued its own statement, confirming talks with Icahn, and their condinued interest in Yahoo -- including a full merger....

Hedge fund 13F Charts have been updated

All charts were updated for the last trading day of last week, 7/3

Carl Icahn's latest blog posts: He can't talk about the Yahoo proxy fight but will have more to say "shortly"; he also addresses other reader comments

Carl Icahn has posted again on his blog, responding to reader comments about Yahoo on 6/27 and this morning, on comments related to his prior posts. 

Regarding Yahoo: He noted that he's in the midst of a proxy fight with the firm and won't answer questions about the fight itself.  He did say that he plans to talk about his views on Yahoo as well as its management "shortly".

And in another post from this morning, Icahn addresses some reader comments on earlier pieces "Corporate Democracy is a Myth", "The Absurdity of the Staggered Board".  You can read the questions and responses here:

Regarding Your Comments On Yahoo - The Icahn Report
My Responses to Your Comments - The Icahn Report

Yahoo filing makes its case for why their directors should stay

The propaganda war continues: Yahoo just released a presentation detailing why they think their board of directors should still remain in power. The sad thing is, with Carl Icahn most likely not being able to get Microsoft back to the table for a full on merger, short of pulling a rabbit out of his hat, his slate is facing longer and longer odds.  That means that at least most the Yahoo clowns probably will get to keep their jobs.  Sucks for Yahoo shareholders.  Here's the press release:

Hedge Fund 13F Charts have been updated; Soros and Blue Ridge Capital were added

We updated all of the 13F charts this weekend.  In addition, Soros' top 200 positions have been added, as well as Blue Ridge Capital.

The link is here.

It's here! It's here! Carl Icahn's blog is FINALLY live

Guess they were putting the finishing touches on Carl Icahn's new blog when it was offline earlier today, but Carl Icahn's blog is no longer an urban myth.  He actually has several posts up, dating back to June 12, with a "Thanks for the Support" post.  Other posts include "Absurdity of The Poison Pill" (6/13), "Comments on Sandy Weill's Statements Concerning Citigroup" (6/14), "Absurdity of the Staggered Board" (6/15), "About CEOs – Anti Darwinian Metaphor – Survival of the Unfittest" (6/16), "Absurdity of Corporate Board Elections" (6/16), "Corporate Democracy is a Myth" (6/18)

We haven't yet had time to digest it all, but here's the link