The Latest From Jerry: Stay Focused, Yahoos!

Yet another employee
letter to Yahoos from CEO Jerry Yang has now become public, thanks to Yahoo
being required

to file these things with the US Securities & Exchange Commission. It makes
you wonder why Yahoo (and Microsoft) don’t just publicly blog these letters to
their workers, since they come out anyway

In the latest from today, no real news other than Yang telling employees no
decision have been made, proposals are being evaluated, and hey — look — people
love Yahoo! The full letter, complete with original lower-case lettering, below:

Subject: Building on our strengths

yahoos —

first off, I want to thank you for the great job you’re doing staying
focused on executing our priorities. there’s obviously been a lot of talk
about yahoo! in recent days and we won’t let it distract us from pursuing
our transformation strategy.

roy and I have communicated about the thorough review process our board is
going through right now. the board is focused on maximizing the value of
yahoo!’s tremendous assets for our shareholders. and it is going to take the
time it needs to do it right.

as we’ve said, no decisions have been made about microsoft’s proposal. our
board is thoughtfully evaluating a wide range of potential strategic
alternatives in what is a complex and evolving landscape. and we’ve hired
top advisors to assist through the process.

what’s become clear in the past few days is how much people care about this
company. we’ve seen a strong show of support from our users, advertisers,
and publishers, reminding us how much they love our products and services.
and i’ve heard from many of you — and from other friends and colleagues from
around silicon valley and across the globe — that we need to do what’s best
for yahoo! and our shareholders. i promise you that the board is going to do
that.

the microsoft interest highlights the tremendous strength of the yahoo!
brand and assets: our half billion users around the world, our leading
products and services, our open ad network, our technology, and most of all,
our amazingly talented people.

we have a lot to be excited about and there’s more good news to come.
yesterday we announced a digital music partnership with rhapsody and our
acquisition of foxytunes, maker of the popular music toolbar plugin. today
we launched zimbra 5.0, a next generation e-mail and collaboration suite
that’s a great milestone in our open platform and starting point strategies.
and stay tuned for exciting announcements next week at the mobile world
congress.

as we look to build on the progress we’ve been making, i want to make sure
you all realize how essential you are to yahoo!’s success. as this process
moves forward, we’re going to keep you informed. your hard work and strong
commitment are more important now than ever before.

jerry