Microsoft Backs Off Bid To Buy Yahoo

Microsoft Offered $47.5 Billion; Yahoo Wanted $53 Billion

(AP)  Microsoft says it's dropping its three-month-old bid to buy Yahoo because the two sides can't agree on an acceptable sale price.

Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer says in a letter sent to Yahoo on Saturday that the software maker was willing to pay $47.5 billion for Yahoo. That's $33 per share.

Ballmer says Yahoo insisted that Microsoft pay at least $53 billion. That's $37 per share.

Microsoft's original offer was $44.6 billion, or $31 per share.

[dan_shields-2009]

YES!! Yahoo won! Microsoft needed to stop harassing Yahoo, I mean Yahoo never asked Microsoft to buy them, so if Microsoft cant afford the price then they needed to walk away which they did.

[ontheleft]

MS is a software company, not an internet company. We don''t need Microsoft to take over another company and ruin it like they''ve done with past takeovers. Can''t MS be original for once?

MS was too concerned with monopolizing the browser market to capitalize on where the real money was. Altavista dropped the ball too. I remember using altavista long before Google came out.

[taylor2124]

Yahoo''s refusal to take this offer will go down as one of the stupidest business decisions in US history. Simply put, Yahoo put their employees interests before those of the stockholders, and their stock and company will be punished for this. Yahoo will be gone in 5 years. Google has won. Seal the grave, game over.

[shanev137]

That''s about 10%.

That would be like refusing to knock off $500 on a piece of *** car you were trying to sell for $5,000.

Jerry Yang must really be an idiot.

[darkfyreaol]

taylor2124: Yahoo was keeping their consumer''s interests in mind as well.

Microsoft already has their hand in dozens of industries: word processing, operating systems, email, image editing, video making, internet security, networking, video gaming, music..and now one of the world''s largest search engines? Just how much to they need to control?

[michellem99-2009]

Yahoo is smart..MS needs to go back what they do os platforms..Vista..sure it is pretty,,it don''t work..I wished they would have stayed with XP. Yahoo will be around..

[godseyesore-2009]

Finally, Balmer is given the shaft.