Yahoo Chairman Fires Back at Icahn

Responding to investor Carl Icahn's call to unseat Yahoo's board after they "botched" the proposed Microsoft merger, Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock defended the decision process and outcome."Yahoo's board was at every point in this process prepared to enter into a transaction with Microsoft that would maximize stockholder value -- and included certainty of value and closing. What Yahoo's independent board refused to do was to allow control of this company to be acquired for less than its full value," Bostock wrote in a letter addressed to Icahn that rehashes in short form what transpired since Microsoft's initial bid early this year.

And in a letter of his own to Yahoo employees, CEO Jerry Yang urged his troops to stay the course. "I ask all of you to put aside the rumors and speculation and stay focused on the business at hand and what we do best -- transforming the online experiences of our users, advertisers, publishers and developers," he wrote.

At least one major Yahoo investor plans to back Icahn: Paulson & Co., which owns 50 million Yahoo shares. Meanwhile, several proxy firms have been weighing in on Icahn's actions. Some say he has put together a formidable lineup of board replacements, while others expect investors will stick with the "devil that you do know is better than the devil you don't know" mentality.CNET News