ceo

The business leader 2009: Chief Meaning Officer

2009 will be a year of major uncertainty. The doom and gloom of the economic downturn, the deterioration of mass markets, the pervasiveness of the digital lifestyle, a host of explosive political conflicts, and the fragmentation of traditional societal institutions are causing anxiety and propel a new search for simplicity and non-economic value systems.

Consumption-driven wealth and status are being replaced by identity, belonging, and a strong desire to contribute and do something "meaningful" rather than just acquire things. Trust and reputation are no longer enablers for the exchange of goods, services, and information, they are replacing them. … Read more

Report: Yahoo investor urges Microsoft search deal

A major Yahoo shareholder is reportedly pushing for the company to renew discussion with Microsoft for a deal over its search business, CNBC reported Wednesday.

Ivory Investment Management, a hedge fund based in Los Angeles that owns 1.5 percent of Yahoo, is expected to release a letter Wednesday outlining its plan, which could result in as much as $15 billion from Microsoft, CNBC said.

Officials from Ivory could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Microsoft-Yahoo saga has been a long one. Last month, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer finally said that the company was "done with all acquisition discussions with Yahoo,&… Read more

Ballmer: Yahoo search deal better sooner than later

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Friday said a search deal with Yahoo would be better if done sooner than later, but noted it wasn't a factor in the hiring of former Yahoo search executive Qi Lu, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Microsoft announced Thursday that it had hired Lu as president of its online services business. Lu was formerly the vice president of Yahoo's e-commerce and search business. Microsoft has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring the latter.

In responding to the Journal's question on whether Lu's hiring will make any potential integration … Read more

Microsoft, Yahoo said in talks on search deal

Updated 6:15 AM PST November 30

According to one report, Yahoo and Microsoft may once again be working on a search deal.

The Times of London reported this weekend that Microsoft is in talks to acquire Yahoo's search business for $20 billion. According to the paper, former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller and fomer Fox Interactive President Ross Levinsohn are set to head the effort.

"Senior directors at Microsoft and Yahoo are understood to have agreed the broad terms of a deal, but there is no guarantee that it will succeed," The Times said in its report. … Read more

Carl Icahn increases stake in Yahoo

Update 10:00 a.m. PST: Added Yahoo's closing price Friday.

Although it seems everyone from Microsoft to analysts to shareholders have lost some interest in Yahoo, at least one person hasn't: Carl Icahn.

Over the course of three days this week, the activist investor bought up nearly 7 million shares of Yahoo, the Associated Press reported Friday. That brings Icahn's stake in the Internet search pioneer to about 75.6 million shares, or 5.5 percent, according to a regulatory filing. Icahn paid an average of $9.92 for each share.

The move comes on the … Read more

Yahoo shares hit $8 range

Yahoo fell into a new dollar range on Thursday, pushed into the high $8 a share bracket as the broader markets took a beating.

Yahoo closed at $8.95 a share, down 2 percent, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average cratered 444.99 points to close at 7,552.29.

For Yahoo, its shares have not traded at this point since February 2003, while the S&P 500, which fell 6.71 percent to 752.44, has not seen these levels since 2002.

The markets reacted late in the session as signs pointed to a delay in moving a … Read more

Yahoo shares plummet nearly 21 percent on Ballmer comments

Updated 1:30 p.m. PST, with Yahoo's closing price and additional information on Microsoft-Yahoo-Yang.

Yahoo shares went into a free fall Wednesday, plummeting 20.9 percent following comments from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that the software giant is interested in a search-only partnership and not a buyout of the entire company.

The Internet search pioneer fell $2.41 a share to close at $9.14 a share, during the regular trading session. And at one point in the trading day, Yahoo's shares dipped as low as $9.07 a share.

The stock went into shock after Ballmer … Read more

Ballmer: 'We are done' with Yahoo acquisition idea

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer threw his daily bucket of cold water on the notion that the software maker will return with a new bid for all of Yahoo.

"We are done with all acquisition discussions with Yahoo," Ballmer said, adding that he has said this a bunch of times but that some people remain "confused."

"We did our best," he said. "We've moved on."

His comments came at the company's annual shareholders meeting Wednesday in Bellevue, Wash., not far from the company's Redmond headquarters. Ballmer, whose address was offered … Read more

What CEO skills should Yahoo look for?

Yahoo's board and outgoing Chief Executive Jerry Yang agree that his skills aren't the right ones to turn the company around. What strengths, then, should his successor have?

Given Yahoo's sluggish responsiveness and years of trouble, a turnaround expert with a high pain threshold certainly is a good place to start. But there are other options beyond that.

Among the options are a mergers-and-acquisitions specialist who might broker a deal with Microsoft or another partner, a buttoned-down operations expert who could speed up Yahoo's existing strategy, and a bold visionary who could take Yahoo in a … Read more