fighting

As Juniper CEO, Kevin Johnson to get $5 million signing bonus

The jump to Juniper Networks as CEO seems almost a no-brainer for Microsoft executive Kevin Johnson.

Johnson will not only be top dog at the networking company when he arrives September 8, but he's landing a $5 million signing bonus that'll be doled out over three years and an annual base salary of $800,000, according to Juniper's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

Johnson, who's leaving his post as Microsoft's online and Windows chief, will also land two stock option grants that total 1.6 million shares vesting over four years, … Read more

T. Boone Pickens dumps Yahoo stake

Yahoo dipped below $20 a share Tuesday morning, following a report in the San Francisco Chronicle that T. Boone Pickens dumped his entire stake of 10 million shares.

Shares of the Internet pioneer fell as low as $19.71 in morning trading, coming within a breath of the $19.18 that the stock closed at on the day before Microsoft announced its unsolicited buyout bid of $31 a share. Microsoft later bumped it up to $33 a share, which was rejected.

Pickens jumped into the stock in May, following an announcement by investor activist Carl Icahn that he would wage … Read more

WiiWare and Virtual Console releases for this week

Virtual Console

Chase H.Q. (1992, TurboGrafx-16, 600 Wii points): You, Tony Gibson, and your partner, Raymond Broady, are of two cops from the NYPD's special "CHASE H.Q." unit. It's your mission to catch criminals by chasing them and ramming them off the road in your unmarked car--all in 16-bit graphics glory. Art of Fighting 2 (1994, NeoGeo, 900 Wii points): 12 characters compete in the toughest fighting contest of them all: King of Fighters. The game is notorious for having some of the most difficult opponent A.I. in the long history of fighting … Read more

RiskMetrics recommends re-election of current Yahoo board

Updated at 2:16 p.m. PDT with comments from RiskMetrics' Patrick McGurn and Yahoo shareholder activist Eric Jackson.

Yahoo's current board of directors received an endorsement Thursday, when influential advisory service RiskMetrics Group recommended to its institutional investor clients to vote for all of Yahoo's directors at the upcoming annual shareholders meeting.

That recommendation runs counter to one issued the day before by Glass Lewis & Co., another institutional investor advisory service that makes recommendations to pension funds, mutual funds and asset management companies on how to vote on issues contained within companies' proxies. Glass Lewis, as … Read more

Yahoo president 'looking forward' to meeting Icahn

Yahoo President Sue Decker has taken the high road. In a CNBC interview that aired Wednesday, she said she looks forward to meeting investor activist Carl Icahn when he joins the company's board and would "love to get his advice."

Icahn, who reached a settlement with Yahoo earlier in the week, agreed to halt his proxy fight in exchange for being appointed to the board after the company's August 1 shareholders meeting. Yahoo also agreed to expand its board to 11 members and select two directors from a list that Icahn provided.

In the past two … Read more

Glass Lewis advises against re-electing 3 Yahoo directors

An advisory service to institutional investors issued a recommendation Wednesday that its clients vote against the re-election of three Yahoo directors.

Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and directors Ron Burkle and Arthur Kern, all of whom sit on the compensation committee, received a thumbs down from influential institutional investor Glass Lewis & Co.

Glass Lewis, as well as RiskMetrics and Proxy Governance, issue recommendations to their clients on how to vote on proxy matters. These clients include mutual funds, pension funds, and asset management companies, which often hold large blocks of stock in various companies.

Glass Lewis is advising its clients … Read more

Icahn recounts thought process behind settlement

While some folks were enjoying the summer sun and taking a vacation, investor activist Carl Icahn showed that the life of a shareholder activist can be 24-7.

In his blog post Tuesday, Icahn recounts how he spent last weekend hammering out a settlement agreement with Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and CEO Jerry Yang, ending a contentious proxy battle between the parties.

Here's what Icahn had to say:

Proxy fights are very expensive and time-consuming. Unlike political elections, where change is often seen, it is unfortunately extremely difficult to take control of a company. By the end of last week, … Read more

Yahoo to tap Jonathan Miller for board seat and more?

With its bruising proxy battle over, Yahoo stands poised to add a few more deck chairs among its board of directors.

But will Yahoo founder and CEO Jerry Yang get cast overboard in the process in favor of former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller?

Yahoo's board, as part of its settlement agreement with investor activist Carl Icahn, will appoint Icahn to its board after its August 1 shareholders meeting and then will add two more directors to its 11-member board from a pool of candidates that Icahn has recommended. That pool includes Icahn's former slate of dissident directors and … Read more

Yang note welcomes Icahn's 'fresh perspective'

After months of exchanging barbs with investor activist Carl Icahn, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang has told employees he's looking forward to the "fresh perspective" Icahn will bring as a board member.

Just last week, Icahn had officially launched his proxy fight against Yahoo. On Monday morning, a settlement with Icahn ended it all.

Monday's note contrasts with an e-mail Yang penned last week that warned employees to brace for an especially contentious period leading up to the August 1 shareholders meeting. The latest missive, posted Monday evening in a corporate blog and noted in a Securities … Read more