Yahoo Chairman and Chief Executive Terry Semel has the backing of company board members to continue Yahoo's "transformation" into a more competitive rival against Google. The picture painted on Wall
Street, however, is that Semel has been one step behind the behemoth, out-Googled on potential acquisitions that would have narrowed the gap between Yahoo and Google. Semel balked at buying Google in
2002 for a price in the single billions, but the company's stock value is now $145 billion -- three times that of Yahoo's. In addition, when Semel took an interest in buying YouTube and DoubleClick,
well, we know how that turned out: Google swooped in and purchased them both, leaving Yahoo to acquire similar, but smaller companies. Insiders named Microsoft and eBay as viable partners for Yahoo to
lessen Google's lead.
Read the whole story at The Economist »
