Company-wide memo from Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang earlier today, capitalization sic, as filed with the SEC:
Subject: Building on our strengths
Subject: Shitting our pants
first off, I want to thank you for the great job you’re doing
staying focused on executing our priorities. there’s obviously been
a lot of talk about yahoo! in recent days and we won’t let it
distract us from pursuing our transformation strategy.
Thank you for not quitting last Friday.
roy and I have communicated about the thorough review process our
board is going through right now. the board is focused on maximizing
the value of yahoo!’s tremendous assets for our shareholders. and it
is going to take the time it needs to do it right.
We very much want to say “no” but can’t figure out how without triggering a shareholder revolt.
as we’ve said, no decisions have been made about microsoft’s
proposal. our board is thoughtfully evaluating a wide range of
potential strategic alternatives in what is a complex and evolving
landscape. and we’ve hired top advisors to assist through the
process.
Does anyone have any wealthy relatives with 40 or 50 billion dollars to invest?
what’s become clear in the past few days is how much people care
about this company. we’ve seen a strong show of support from our
users, advertisers, and publishers, reminding us how much they love
our products and services. and i’ve heard from many of you — and
from other friends and colleagues from around silicon valley and
across the globe — that we need to do what’s best for yahoo! and our
shareholders. i promise you that the board is going to do that.
Everyone seems to agree that Microsoft would fuck Yahoo up but good.
the microsoft interest highlights the tremendous strength of the
yahoo! brand and assets: our half billion users around the world,
our leading products and services, our open ad network, our
technology, and most of all, our amazingly talented people.
Yahoo’s stock was clearly undervalued by the market, which means those bastards in Redmond are getting a good deal and there’s nothing we can do about it.
we have a lot to be excited about and there’s more good news to
come.
Where by “more” I mean “some”.
yesterday we announced a digital music partnership with
rhapsody and our acquisition of foxytunes, maker of the popular
music toolbar plugin.
We are completely irrelevant in digital music.
today we launched zimbra 5.0, a next
generation e-mail and collaboration suite that’s a great milestone
in our open platform and starting point strategies.
Zimbra will be the first product taken out back to be shot in the head once the Microsoft takeover goes through.
as we look to build on the progress we’ve been making, i want to
make sure you all realize how essential you are to yahoo!’s success.
Please don’t quit.
as this process moves forward, we’re going to keep you informed.
your hard work and strong commitment are more important now than
ever before.
Welcome to Microsoft.