SUNNYVALE, California: Meeting for the first time yesterday, Tuesday, Yahoo's new board (complete with corporate raider Carl Icahn and his henchmen, the former Viacom and Nextel bosses Frank Biondi and Frank Chapple) approved new talks with Time Warner's equally fragile AOL.
As yet, however, no active deal proposals will be on the table, reports a Yahoo mole.
The decision coincides with last week's announcement by TW chief executive Jeff Bewkes that he hoped to reach a decision on AOL's future "fairly soon".
But many onlookers believe that in the current economic climate "fairly soon" is not soon enough, and predict rapid action.
The terrier-like Icahn, meantime, has not dropped the idea of a union with Microsoft. In an interview last week with CNBC he opined that Yahoo would "have to do something with Microsoft or Google is going to kill them."
As yet, however, no active deal proposals will be on the table, reports a Yahoo mole.
The decision coincides with last week's announcement by TW chief executive Jeff Bewkes that he hoped to reach a decision on AOL's future "fairly soon".
But many onlookers believe that in the current economic climate "fairly soon" is not soon enough, and predict rapid action.
The terrier-like Icahn, meantime, has not dropped the idea of a union with Microsoft. In an interview last week with CNBC he opined that Yahoo would "have to do something with Microsoft or Google is going to kill them."
Data sourced from Financial Times; additional content by WARC staff
