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.