April 30, 2008 [LINK / comment]
Microsoft huffs and puffs at Yahoo
Earlier this month, Microsoft warned Yahoo that if Yahoo's shareholders did not accept a buyout offer by April 26, it would proceed with a hostile takeover bid. Well, Yahoo did not budge in the face of the pressure as the deadline passed on Saturday, and today, Microsoft's board of directors "sweetened" the offer by a couple dollars a share, from $31 to $33. Steve Ballmer previously threatened to depose Yahoo's entire board if they don't surrender immediately, but now he is throttling back the bluster. Interestingly, Microsoft's key financial advisers is from Bear Stearns, which went bankrupt by concocting precisely these kinds of high-risk leveraged buyouts. How ironic is that!? See Yahoo News.
Personally, I think Microsoft should spend less time trying to dominate the universe and spend more time accommodating its millions of long-time customers who would rather stick with clunky but serviceable Windows XP rather than upgrading (?) to the slick but bug-infested Vista. There is more than a little truth to the joke about people "upgrading" from Vista (back) to XP, as the New York Times reported last month. (via InstaPundit) But what do I care, I'm a Mac user!