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Steve Ballmer to Yahoo: Not Interested Anymore, Later

by , 1:50 PM EST, November 7th, 2008


Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer
In response to comments from Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang that, "To this day, I would say that the best thing for Microsoft to do is to buy Yahoo!," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was blunt, saying, "We've moved on."

The back and forth started with Google pulling out of a deal Wednesday that it had reached with Yahoo! in June of 2008, which itself followed an aborted buyout offer of Yahoo! by Microsoft that ended with Yahoo! rejecting Big Redmond's advances.

Today, Bloomberg reported that Steve Ballmer returned the favor during a conference in Sydney, Australia, where he added his company is not planning on making another bid for Yahoo!, even though Microsoft had gone as far as to threaten a hostile take over a few short months ago.

Microsoft has been wanting to buy its way into the search business having spent the last several years getting nowhere trying to do it on its own. The company has said that it considers Internet search a big part of its future.

At the time, Yahoo! said that Microsoft was undervaluing the company with its offer, and the two companies spent several months in negotiations that eventually ended with Yahoo! holding firm and Microsoft empty handed.

It's that state of affairs that makes today's back and forth with Yahoo! being interested in a Microsoft buyout and Microsoft playing coy all the more interesting. The situation has already launched all sorts of speculation about the role of Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang in the company he cofounded.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Guest
Subject: MS equals bullying sleeze

It does not matter the topic, be it Lies about the need for H1-Bs, Buying Yahoo, or monopolistic/predatory business practices, Microsoft is all sleeze. Damn IBM for creating this monster!

Close Name:Guest
Subject: MSFT makes the right choice

Business is business and Yahoo! will be irrelevant in two years without a major partner and a new direction. Buy it at $7 a share after the market conditions worsen. Don't forget - MSFT has the cash on hand and even earning 2% in CD's is better than paying $20 and owning $7 a year from now.

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

C'mon, Uncle Fester! You and Jerry should kiss and make up then you should give him all your cash.

I want to watch your ship sink.

Close Name:geoduck Posts: 1922 Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Subject:

Maybe it's just me but the older Ballmer gets, the more he seems to look like the monster from Young Frankenstein.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: You moved on...? Yeah, right. You dodged a bullet!

The confluence of events precluding your purchase of Yahoo brought you back from the brink of insanity and gave everyone pause to reflect on what Microsoft means to the world going forward.

Get your head out of the clouds and fix Windows, dammit! Azure is nice but it will be years before you realize consistent revenue streams.

It took Apple's iTunes Store five years to become the juggernaught it is today and the iTS cloud would not have been possible without having already established a solid-performing mobile OS. A niggling of doubt is already creeping in as to whether Microsoft can pair down Win 7 to the mobile platform.

Oh, and please stop making Touch the centerpiece of Win 7. Apple's been there, done that. Have you got anything else?

Go Apple!

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Stupid Fanboys Don't Know History

Quote
Guest wrote:
It took Apple's iTunes Store five years to become the juggernaught it is today and the iTS cloud would not have been possible without having already established a solid-performing mobile OS. A niggling of doubt is already creeping in as to whether Microsoft can pair down Win 7 to the mobile platform.

Oh, and please stop making Touch the centerpiece of Win 7. Apple's been there, done that. Have you got anything else?


What planet are you on? Apple didn't make the iPod OS & UI, they used PortalPlayer and Pixo. In fact, first generation iPods show Pixo in the "About" information. What, the iPhone was the first iPod to use a dumbed down version of OS X?

PS - Apple didn't invent touch. How long have Windows Mobile devices had touch? Since like what 2001, at least? Tablet PC was around when? 2003? Get over it, Apple doesn't innovate, they just convince you they did though their marketing juggernaut. But neither of these companies invented it.

Close Name:LaurieF -   TMO Forum Mod Posts: 3547 Joined: 15 Jun 2001
Subject:

Yeah yeah yeah - go play with your iRiver. We don't care.

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

Quote
LaurieF wrote:
Yeah yeah yeah - go play with your iRiver. We don't care.


Exactly, why do facts matter when you can just make up history to suit your needs? I don't have an iRiver. I actually have an iPod (gen 4 (not photo), my gen 2 is dead now) and an iPhone (gen 1, not 3g). I just hate cultists trying talk about why Apple succeeded who clearly don't even know their technology. iTMS is a huge success, but it's not because Apple wrote some amazing mobile OS. Until the iPhone, Microsoft had a far superior mobile OS. In fact, in terms of business. The iTMS isn't that huge of a money maker for Apple, it's really backwards of what that guest tried to say. The iTMS's primary purpose is to drive sales of the iPod. That is where Apple sees the big margins, not from iTunes. In fact, when you look at the sales numbers, the iPod was not doing very well until AFTER the iTMS opened. Just go look at the wikipedia iPod page and scroll down to the sales chart. You'll see sales started to take off in Q4 2004, iTMS opened in the beginng of Q2 2003. Prior to 2003 the iPod sales can hardly even be seen on the chart. So that guest is just a fanboy who likes to make up history in order to bash M$FT. I love my iPhone & iPod, but I'm not delusional.

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