Billionaire investor and Yahoo board member Carl Icahn told CNBC on Wednesday that he opposes selling a portion of Web giant, whose stock he thinks is undervalued. "I don't think there is very much to having a partial bid for the company, at least as a large shareholder," Icahn said, addressing rumors that former AOL chief Jonathan Miller was trying to raise money to acquire all or part of Yahoo. Icahn purchased an additional 7 million shares in the company last week. Miller thinks he could acquire the company for between $20 and $22 per share. Microsoft of course …

Om Malik wonders why Google let The Wall Street Journal publish such a bearish report about the company's short-term prospects yesterday. Indeed, CEO Eric Schmidt sounded less than convinced about a rosy future for the search giant, saying things like, "We have to behave as though we don't know what's going to happen." Malik sees these comments as a "a big red flag" that all is not well inside Google, and that investors ought to prepare for what could be "a terrible 2009." That's particularly bad news for the Internet advertising sector, especially when you consider …

Yahoo shares jumped 16% following a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday claiming that ex-AOL Chief Jonathan Miller was trying to raise money to buy all or part of Yahoo in his bid to become the company's next CEO. However, a New York Post report this morning claims that while Miller is indeed looking to raise money, he's not looking to do so in order to buy Yahoo. The Post report cites two sources close to Miller who say he actively looking for funding for his Velocity Interactive Group, the investment firm he jointly runs with former Fox Interactive Media …

Google is finally tightening its belt after many years of go-go growth, The Wall Street Journal reports, cutting back on extravagant spending and the so-called "20% time" the company gives workers to tinker away on pet projects. For most of its 10-year history, Google has been able to hire by the thousands, dishing out generous perks like three free meals a day, free doctors, ski trips, and laundry and daycare facilities. The company's main goal was to develop new products and services that would take the company away from its total reliance (97% of revenue) on search advertising. Though many …

At an industry event in San Francisco, Twitter CEO Evan Williams once again brushed aside concerns about the microblogging site's lack of a business model. "We will make money, and I can't say exactly how because ... we can't predict how the businesses we're in will work," Williams said, hinting that the company would generate fees from sales-related Twitter content and from corporate users. However, as the conversation wore on, Cnet claims that one actually got the impression that Williams might be onto something. The Twitter CEO revealed that the company was negotiating with consumer packaged goods companies about possibly …

One of Google's stated goals for 2008 was to turn YouTube into a moneymaking machine. To that end, big G has unveiled new content partnerships, ad units, even a new search advertising system on the video-sharing site this year. Of course, 2008 is now ending, and we're still waiting for the killer app that will turn YouTube into Google's next cash cow. So what's the plan for 2009? At a recent industry conference, Jordan Hoffner, YouTube's director of content partnerships, said the video giant would capitalize on its market dominance by building on what it started in 2008. Hoffner said …

Silicon Alley Insider serves up an update in the Yahoo CEO search. Despite conflicting reports in the press, SAI sources claim that former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller wants the job and is first choice inside Yahoo. As The Wall Street Journal reported, Miller would prefer to raise money to buy Yahoo before running it; that way he stands to profit enormously from the Web giant's turnaround. Even if that doesn't work out, Miller would take the job anyway. However, former Yahoo COO Dan Rosensweig is gaining momentum as the second most likely candidate. One source even claims that Yahoo is …