back to article Microsoft could go it alone without Yahoo!

Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer yesterday dropped the biggest hint yet that Redmond could turn its back on rival Yahoo! if its hostile bid to buy the internet search engine is rejected. The Wall Street Journal reports that Ballmer, speaking after a conference in Milan, said: “We know what Yahoo! is worth to us. We offered a lot of …

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  1. Brian Miller

    Psychotic sour grapes for Ballmer

    The moron horde of Redmond seems bent on devouring its prey. So Yahoo! gives Microsoft the finger, and battle lines are drawn. From what I understand, Microsoft wants to get a new board on Yahoo!, but what if the new board also wants Microsoft to walk the plank? Or how about this current board gets off its butt and does a hostile takeover of Microsoft? I'd love to see Microsoft taken over by Yahoo!. Maybe then we'll get better versions of Windows.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    LOL

    http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1097.html

    I was SO hopping Nuclear Fission would occur!

  3. Solomon Grundy

    @Brian Miller and Hostile Takeovers

    What are you talking about? Do you have any idea what this story is about? If MS puts people on the Yahoo board they'll be on MS's side. They're not suggesting random people for the board...

    At any rate, the proposed MicroHoo deal is not, at this stage, a hostile takeover - unwanted yes, but not hostile. It could turn hostile if MS puts their chosen on the board and forces the board to go through with a sale or something like that. Otherwise it's still just a offer to purchase. Just like if someone saw your house and offered to buy it even though it wasn't "officially" for sale.

    In closing, Yahoo is not opposed to a buyout from MS - they are opposed to the price being offered.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Gates Halo

    Can't wait

    to see the collapse in the Yahoo share price if/when Microsoft withdraw their bid.

    Shame we miss out on the new name, Microhoo.

  5. Dangerous Dave
    Alert

    huh?

    People use Yahoo?

  6. Daniel B.

    Yahoo doesn't want MS

    Yahoo just doesn't want Microsoft, but it can't publicly accept it because of those stupid investor laws. So they're defending Yahoo under the pretext of "not enough money d00d!"

    I wouldn't like Yahoo to go down or be Microsodomized. If there is any tech-related company I'd like to see dead, that would be AOL.

  7. Dave Bennett

    @ Dangerous!

    I didn't think so either, but I Googled it and lots of stuff comes up so maybe?

    I like the sound of the 'Yahooligans' section.

  8. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects

    > huh?

    Almost any body hu is anybody in China uses Yahoo. It shows solidarity with the state. Just like Yahoo does.

    That's why there are so many Chinese evangelists spamming any non Chinese address they can find. They are spreading the word so that when the People's Republic extends their borders, no-one will notice.

    No-one that hasn't looked at a Chinese state forum that is.

  9. Herby

    Yes, people do!

    Use Yahoo. I just don't like Google and all it does ("no evil"??). I started out using Yahoo before it had searches and was the only index in town. Stayed with them thru all their foibles (AltaVista, etc...). Done me OK.

    If they go to the "dark side", I'll go somewhere else, Ask, maybe. I just don't like Google, it gives me a bad taste.

  10. Pierre
    Paris Hilton

    Bad=good

    I do have 2 yahoo mail adresses though, and yahoo search is significantly more accurate than google, so I hope they don't go down or get micro$hafted.

    Still, all that can make MS look like twats is welcome... and things are heading that way!

  11. Richard Foersom

    @Dangerous Dave

    Check the Alexa Internet site ranking, Yahoo.com is world most visited Internet site.

  12. Robin
    Alert

    @Richard Foersom

    There's lies, damn lies and statistics or something like that.

    Yahoo.com is top of the list, that is true. But Google takes up much of the rest of the top 40.

    Why is this? If you go to yahoo.co.uk you end up on uk.yahoo.com, which is therefore a hit for yahoo.com not yahoo.co.uk. This does not happen on Google.

    A quick count of Google sites in the top 40: 14

    A quick count of Yahoo site in the top 40: 3

    I believe Google is the most visited company on the web. But this is only a belief as I have no stats on the matter....

  13. crayon
    Pirate

    @I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects

    "Almost any body hu is anybody in China uses Yahoo. "

    It may have been true 5-8 years ago. These days people and companies use homegrown sites like 163.com or sina.com etc.

  14. Law
    Paris Hilton

    RE: Bad=good

    BURRRRRRN THE UNBELIEVERRRR!!!!! Hold you wicked tongue peasant - how dare you blaspheme against our google-overlords!!

    *begins to chant while rocking back and forth until the paris icon appears*

  15. Aodhhan

    Bring it on

    It's been a while since we've seen a nice, messy proxy fight for a well known company.

    Yahoo knows they aren't number one, and the MS offer is fair. I think they are just posturing to see if they can get more, and to gauge stakeholder and public feelings.

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