By Stephen Shankland, 7 August 2008 11:06
NEWS
Yahoo! activist investor Carl Icahn is now officially part of the internet company's board.
Icahn had tried to take over the entire board in July but settled for a seat of his own and for two of his allies. In a regulatory filing Wednesday, Yahoo! said Icahn is officially on the board, replacing Robert Kotick as planned.
One of Icahn's first roles on the board will be to help pick the two allies who will join him. The new appointments are set to be announced by 15 August, increasing Yahoo!'s board from nine to 11 members.
Icahn owns about five per cent of Yahoo's shares.
The board met 30 times in the six months between Microsoft's announcement of its desire to acquire Yahoo! and Friday's shareholder meeting.
And there's plenty of pressure still to come. After that meeting, the board might have been breathing a sigh of relief when vote results showed shareholder dissatisfaction had lessened from 2007. But a recount of the Yahoo! vote actually showed strong dissatisfaction: 39.6 per cent withheld votes to re-elect chairman Roy Bostock and 33.7 per cent withheld votes for chief executive Jerry Yang.
Those numbers could help bring some weight to whatever reforms Icahn has to suggest. The interpersonal dynamics of the board are sure to change but it's not yet clear how. For the time being, though, both Icahn and Yahoo! are presenting an image of collegiality and civility.
In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.
Log in or create your silicon.com account below