• The Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, June 4, 2008 10:45 AM

Carl Icahn, the billionaire investor orchestrating a proxy battle to take control of Yahoo, aims to replace Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang along with the rest of the company's board at Yahoo's annual shareholder meeting on Aug. 1.

Earlier this week, a lawsuit filed by angry Yahoo shareholders revealed details about an employee severance plan that encouraged existing workers to walk out on the company if the merger were to go through. Icahn estimated that the retention plan, which would have cost Microsoft $2.5 billion or more, effectively deterred the software giant from going through with the merger.

"It's no longer a mystery to me why Microsoft's offer isn't around," he said. "How can Yahoo keep saying they're willing to negotiate and sell the company on the one hand, while at the same time, they're completely sabotaging the process without telling anyone?" Icahn said he was convinced that Microsoft execs no longer trust Yang and wouldn't make a new bid as long as he's CEO.

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