AfterDawn: News

Microsoft ends bid for Yahoo

Microsoft has ended its hostile bid for Yahoo today, withdrawing its $46 billion USD offer and announcing it will no longer bid for the company.

A couple of days ago the software maker upped its bid $5 billion USD, a 70 percent premium compared to its inital offer in January.

"After careful consideration, we believe the economics demanded by Yahoo do not make sense for us," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.



In an open letter to Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Ballmer said that Yahoo wanted at least a $48 billion USD offer, and that the company should take the offer directly to the shareholders. Ballmer said that would not be "sensible."

"This approach would necessarily involve a protracted proxy contest and eventually an exchange offer," Ballmer added. "Our discussions with you have led us to conclude that, in the interim, you would take steps that would make Yahoo undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft."

Yahoo officials appear very happy with Microsoft's latest decision.

"Our independent board and our management have been steadfast in our belief that Microsoft's offer undervalued the company and we are pleased that so many of our shareholders joined us in expressing that view," Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock said.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 4 May 2008 15:40

• Previous article

• PSP outsells all other consoles in Japan for April

• Next article

• T-Mobile to merge with Sprint?

• 21 comments

• dragnandy

  dang, i was actually curious what M$ was going to do with yahoo!

  4.5.2008 17:03 #1

• skopas

  THis is hillarious, u can tell MS wants complete control of things like back in the late 90's and turn of millenium. It's not going to happen anymore. Google, for now is a legit contender. Linux is making a slow but sure climb. THere is going to be others popping up soon. MS...Face it!!!.............you dont own the world of computers. Greed...uh..what an awful adj.

  4.5.2008 17:38 #2

• DXR88

  They Do if you want to Play Games

  4.5.2008 18:26 #3

• chaos_zzz

  bill gates could buy yahoo from his own pocket, ms is part of our lifes, it's shame but we end up using their products or paying someone u uses it, it's just gone to far we can't turn it back
  as bad as it sounds we need MS

  4.5.2008 18:58 #4

• skopas

  @chaos zzz,
  Yeah, i must agree. I would buy Windows OS anyday over linux and Mac. They make great software and it's part of our lives now or daily routine...lol I suppose those are issues for major big wigs like them, buying and selling to stay atop the Tech race.

  4.5.2008 19:50 #5

• tripplite

  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!1
  
  *wahha*
  
  ......why did i ever give my brother that $120 to put into MSFT!!!
  
  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  
  
  in other news the guys at Microsoft dont look like this anymore....no they work in cubicles and rush out every Friday afternoon to get back to their tiny apartments......its amazing, if you ask me the company's been going down hill ever since bill said he's leaving and going to conquer Africa......

  4.5.2008 20:54 #6

• hulud86

  I wish i had 48 billion : (

  4.5.2008 20:57 #7

• lawndog

  whether you want to admit it or not, MS is becoming a contender in every aspect of technology. It used to just be that they were an operateing system for computers. But, This week I bought a Samsung Blackjack II guess what it has windows moblie. Now theres PDAs with MS. Also this week, my boss bought the new ford edge, then I had to finger out the MS sync in it. Let's not forget the XBOX. Oh also their mp3 player the Zune.(which i on and love) Now I know there are some real MS haters out there, MS is only doing what any company should do. Expanding and reaching into new markets and keeping the share holders happy. The same thing sony does............yes if you look sony, has comps, radios, tvs, surround sound, car sterios, mp3, play station, blank media, and lord knows what else. So before we all hate on MS, maybe we should take a look at what they've accomplished as a company. Cause to be honest they really are taking over the world. or at least attempting to.
  I said it before and I'll say it again. I ain't in school no more so I don't care about my spelling, puncuation, grammer or anything else. And to those that wanna bash my comments
  I got to words for ya (ah man gotta stay in good graces with the mods.
  Just my thoughts
  LD

  4.5.2008 21:37 #8

• B33rdrnkr

  Originally posted by hulud86: I wish i had 48 billion : (word...

  5.5.2008 00:54 #9

• wolf123

  Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaaaaaaaawwww thank god!!!!!
  
  
  You know as well as I do if they got yahoo it would of turned into the craop hotmail or they would of merged it or some crap.

  5.5.2008 10:39 #10

• Hunt720

  Well.. at least nobody with a yahoo email has to worry about their inbox RROD-ing.
  
  
  ..ha.....ha

  5.5.2008 16:54 #11

• iluvendo

  Originally posted by skopas: THis is hillarious, u can tell MS wants complete control of things like back in the late 90's and turn of millenium. It's not going to happen anymore. Google, for now is a legit contender. Linux is making a slow but sure climb. THere is going to be others popping up soon. Quote:MS...Face it!!!.............you dont own the world of computers. Greed...uh..what an awful adj.
  Curses, my plans are foiled again !!! as over heard from the lips of Billy Gates
  

  If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck!
  "The flimsier the product,the higher the price"
  Ferengi 82nd rule of aquisition

  5.5.2008 16:58 #12

• tripplite

  sry vendo looks like you and the fat cats better get packing;)
  
  at any rate......next M$ to be google......such a huge company with buildings/campuses around the world WTF?
  
  http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/03/googl...-bid-for-yahoo/
  
  i gather in fear of the day when google takes over.....
  

  
  

  5.5.2008 18:12 #13

• hoppy54

  microsoft take a lot of stick with various problems in their op system and macs are looked upon as a much more stable system. thats simply down to ms being used by the majority and nothing to do with apple doing it better. we always like to knock ms but thats simply down to a distaste for corporations. you have to hand it too gates for what he has achieved. when home pcs were put to the ibm chairman many moons ago, he laughed and replied "there will be only 5 computers in the future". my only gripe is why the hell can a company like ms produce such a dismal spyware prog like defender without the smart bomb...

  5.5.2008 19:39 #14

• Gradical

  it would´ve been funny as hell, going to yahoo answers, and floding it with xbox360 complaints, i now its already flodded whith those, but then it would´ve been funnier :p

  5.5.2008 21:14 #15

• iluvendo

  If no Yahoo, then what is Bill Gates up to next ?
  

  If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck!
  "The flimsier the product,the higher the price"
  Ferengi 82nd rule of aquisition

  6.5.2008 02:44 #16

• DXR88

  Bill gates world of technological robot people, or simply bill gates land

  6.5.2008 15:20 #17

• wetsparks

  Wasn't there a report on here about how Yahoo has lost money the last few years, yet they think their company is worth $48 billion?

  10.5.2008 02:51 #18

• chaos_zzz

  Originally posted by wetsparks: Wasn't there a report on here about how Yahoo has lost money the last few years, yet they think their company is worth $48 billion?most companys lose money all the time, ms (reapairing 360's), sony (ps3 not selling as expected), so ms is not worth what it's worth , sony ist's not worth what is worth
  
  if ms wan't to rule the world, the least they could have done it's drop some more money on the table
  i read the other day they also had plans on buying logitech (don't know how true this is though, maybe just gossip i hope)

  10.5.2008 10:31 #19

• wetsparks

  I have also seen those rumors of them wanting Logictec, but Microsoft and Sony may lose money in a division, but rarely their whole company loses money. I was under the impression that Yahoo as a whole was losing money on what I thought was a report on here.

  12.5.2008 15:55 #20

• Gradical

  Well, you would need to have some business vision to understand how they can be worth 48 billion even if they were losing money, because they are one thing by them selves, but as a tool from microsoft could mean a whole lot of money, just for starters, how does it sound to you having in your very own pocket all the yahoo mail + hotmail/windows live mail suscribers, just talking about the revenue they could do from advertising in those two mail services, + implementing the yahoo answers service to the microsoft knowledge base + every little piece of software yahoo has ever programed and had some acceptance from users, i could just think of 48billion reasons M$ would like to put their dirty claws on the yahoo puppy

  12.5.2008 21:35 #21