Yahoo names Icahn allies Biondi and Chapple to board
Yahoo today named former Viacom chief Frank Biondi Jr. and ex-Nextel boss John Chapple to its board of directors, fulfilling a promise it made to settle the proxy fight with agitator-investor Carl Icahn.
Both men had been on a slate of candidates for the board Icahn put forward after Yahoo failed to sell itself to Microsoft. After it became likely that Icahn wouldn't win enough shareholder votes to get control of the board, he accepted a compromise that gave him one seat and Yahoo's pick of his allies two more.
"Frank's extensive experience in the entertainment and media industries, combined with John's deep management experience in telecommunications, will provide valuable perspectives to our already diverse board," Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock said in a prepared statement. "We look forward to working with them as our board continues its ongoing efforts to enhance stockholder value."
Biondi was CEO of Universal Studios between 1996 and 1998; before that, he spent more than eight years as CEO of Viacom. Chapple was CEO of Nextel Partners from 1998 until 2006, when Sprint bought the company.
Former AOL Chief CEO Jonathan Miller, an ally of both Icahn and Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, had been seen as a shoo-in for the board. But Miller's candidacy was derailed when AOL parent Time Warner invoked the noncompete clause he had signed.
-- Joseph Menn
Photo: Frank Biondi. Credit: Sam Mircovich / Reuters
If the arrival of the new directors marks the end of the odyssey, we will welcome them at Yahoo!
Domingo
http://www.comlab-corp.com
http://spaengclub.blogspot.com
Posted by: Domingo A. Trassens | August 14, 2008 at 03:09 PM
Fantastic news -- now things are going to get VERY interesting at Yahoo. What wouldn't we all pay to be a fly on the wall at the next board of director's meeting!
If you were a betting person, what you predict for Yahoo's future? Shady backroom maneuvers that ultimately leave Icahn in control? A re-start to the Microsoft buy-out deal? How about a Google buy-out deal?
No matter what, Jerry Yang is going to need to need some serious negotiation skills in order to survive the next few quarters. In this type of high-pressure game, we can only hope that he'll be able to tap into some of James Bond's legendary coolness to hold on to his job.
The next Superbowl will be played on 2/1/09; however, I believe that we're in for a much more interesting game over at Yahoo long before that...
- Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting
http://www.blueelephantconsulting.com
More info on the 7 deadly sins of preparing to negotiate (for Jerry to read):
http://theaccidentalnegotiator.blogspot.com/2008/06/six-deadly-sins-of-preparing-to.html
How James Bond would negotiate:
http://theaccidentalnegotiator.blogspot.com/2008/08/james-bond-approach-to-negotiating.html
Posted by: Dr. Jim Anderson | August 14, 2008 at 06:31 PM