Yahoo Warns Icahn Poses Risk To Shareholders

Jerry Yang of YahooIn its latest appeal to shareholders, Yahoo warned that Carl Icahn would "destroy stockholder value" at the Internet company while reiterating that it was still open to a deal with Microsoft on the right terms.

The letter, issued Thursday by Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and CEO Jerry Yang, comes in advance of Yahoo's Aug. 1 annual meeting where shareholders will vote to support the company's current board of directors or an alternative slate of candidates proposed by activist investor Icahn.

Yahoo stressed that Icahn, "well-known as a corporate agitator," was only pursuing his own narrow interests to recoup his investment in the company. By contrast, Yahoo had taken a series of steps--including its recent search outsourcing deal with Google--to boost shareholder value.

The company also said it was exploring ways to "unlock" the value of its Asian assets, primarily its stakes in China-based search engine Alibaba.com and Yahoo Japan.

While rejecting a recent offer from Microsoft to acquire only its search business, Yahoo said it would sell the entire company to the software giant for $33 a share in a deal that "delivers certainty of value and certainty of closing."

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