Carl Icahn “Activist Investor” Departs Yahoo Board

When “activist investor” Carl Icahn forced his way onto Yahoo’s board in the middle of last year the company was resisting a takeover attempt from Microsoft. Icahn wanted to see a deal and was trying with all his might to broker one between the two companies.

He initiated a very public bid to oust Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang as CEO and bring a slate of Microsoft-friendly candidates to the Yahoo board. He went so far as to file a shareholder lawsuit against Yahoo. The settlement gave Icahn a seat on the Yahoo board and control of three of 11 total board positions.

After Jerry Yang resigned as Yahoo CEO and Carol Bartz entered as the new chief executive, as you know, a search outsourcing deal was done. And now Carl Icahn believes his work is done; he resigned his board seat at the end of last week:

In a statement about his departure, Icahn said “there was not a need at this time for an activist investor.”

Yahoo’s stock price was hovering around $20 when Icahn joined the board. Now it’s just over $17. Good work Carl. Job well done.

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Yahoo: Business Issues | Yahoo: General


About The Author: is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog Screenwerk, about SoLoMo issues and connecting the dots between online and offline. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet. Follow him @gsterling.

Connect with the author via: Email | Twitter | Google+ | LinkedIn


SMX - Search Marketing Expo

SearchCap:

Get all the top search stories emailed daily!  

Like This Story? Please Share!

Other ways to share:

Like Our Site? Follow Us!

Subscribe to Our Feed! Join our LinkedIn Group Check out our Tumblr! See us on Pinterest Get Search Engine Land on your mobile device!
 

Read before commenting! We welcome constructive comments and allow any that meet our common sense criteria. This means being respectful and polite to others. It means providing helpful information that contributes to a story or discussion. It means leaving links only that substantially add further to a discussion. Comments using foul language, being disrespectful to others or otherwise violating what we believe are common sense standards of discussion will be deleted. Comments may also be removed if they are posted from anonymous accounts. You can read more about our comments policy here.
  • http://pmspinner pmspinner

    Deliciously sarcastic – good job! I couldn’t agree more lol

Get Our News, Everywhere!

 
  • Advertise With Us
 

Click to watch SMX conference video

Join us at an upcoming SMX event:

North America

EMEA

APAC

Search Engine Land produces SMX, the Search Marketing Expo conference series. SMX events deliver the most comprehensive educational and networking experiences - whether you're just starting in search marketing or you're a seasoned expert.

SMX Site » | SMX Difference » | SMX News »




 

Search Engine Land Periodic Table of SEO Ranking Factors

Get Your Copy
Read The Full SEO Guide