Originally published Monday, November 24, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Comments (1)
E-mail article
Print view
Brier Dudley
Let's help Yahoo find perfect CEO
It's time to finally end the Microsoft-Yahoo stalemate, and I've got a few suggestions.
![]() |
Seattle Times staff columnist
It's time to finally end the Microsoft-Yahoo stalemate, and I've got a few suggestions.
I know Steve Ballmer said last week that acquisition talks are "over."
Of course, he doesn't want to buy the whole train wreck.
But Ballmer also reminded everyone at Microsoft's annual shareholder meeting in Bellevue that he's still interested in Yahoo's search business.
He'll get it eventually, but it's like watching a bad mystery or Seattle building light rail: exciting at first, but once you figure out the ending, it starts putting you to sleep.
What's the holdup, now that regulators pushed Google out of the picture?
One take is that Microsoft hasn't been able to figure out whom to negotiate with in Sunnyvale. It went nowhere with the wishy-washy board of directors or the flip-flopping Chief Yahoo, Jerry Yang.
With Yang deciding last Monday to step down as chief executive, and a replacement search under way, Ballmer has an opportunity.
To win a favorable deal — and let Microsoft and Yahoo employees get back to work — all he has to do is surreptitiously get Yahoo to hire the right person to replace Yang.
How hard can it be? Microsoft should be able to pull strings with executive recruiters. It also has PR people who can leak candidate names to reporters keeping the "Microhoo" story alive.
Best of all, Ballmer doesn't have to look far for the perfect Yahoo job candidates. There are several right here in town, probably on the bar stool next to his at the Overlake Golf & Country Club's 19th hole.
They include:
![]()
• Paula Reynolds, a chief executive who moves fast and cuts deep. She also knows how to run a company that's been a pillar of the community, the way Yahoo is in Silicon Valley.
Not long after Reynolds took the helm at Safeco, she began cutting hundreds of jobs. Then she sold its landmark headquarters building in the University District.
Reynolds also closed a deal with Microsoft, selling the insurer's Redmond campus to the software company next door. The moves helped her net $14 million in 2006; more important, they positioned the company for change. In April she sold what remained of Safeco to Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group for $6.1 billion.
She was decisive and a hit with Safeco's big shareholders.
• If Reynolds isn't interested, perhaps Ballmer could talk her husband into it.
Steve Reynolds became chief executive of Bellevue-based Puget Energy in 2002. Last year, he orchestrated its sale to a consortium of investors from Australia and Canada for around $7 billion.
It's been tricky getting regulatory approval of the deal. But that's just the sort of experience needed to help Yahoo sell its search business to Microsoft, or at least form a partnership.
Especially with Google — the tech company coziest with President-elect Barack Obama — looking for revenge.
• There's also Alan Fishman, Washington Mutual's chief executive for 18 days before feds seized the bank and sold its assets to JPMorgan for $1.9 billion.
Ballmer's tight with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, so perhaps he could get advice from Jamie Dimon and Henry Paulson.
It's a longshot, but maybe Yahoo's melting stock and executive exodus could justify a federal liquidation. Better than a bailout, right?
They just need to get Fishman on a plane to Sunnyvale.
Brier Dudley's column appears Mondays. Reach him at 206-515-5687 or bdudley@seattletimes.com.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
bdudley@seattletimes.com | 206-515-5687
Brier Dudley: Apple's tablet: why you'll want one
Brier Dudley: Amazon ups ante battling Apple tablet, calls for Kindle apps

nwautos
Associated Press Study: Fatal crashes down in Washington Last year Washington's roads were the scene of the fewest fatal crashes since 1955. According...
Post a comment
nwjobs
Post a comment
Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
Five reasons to stick with a job you hate -- for now
Post a comment
- Alaska Air dropping Jones Soda beverages, going back to Coca-Cola
- Man found shot dead in pickup truck in Seattle
- Seattle is first U.S. stop for Picasso exhibit
- Husky Football Blog | Pac-10 expansion to get consideration over next year
- State Senate votes to clear way for tax increases
- Idol Confessions | "American Idol" hopeful from Seattle didn't make it to Hollywood afterall
- Belltown boulevard could be completed by early next year
- Nicole Brodeur | Chrisceda Clemmons' house wasn't the only casualty
- Brier Dudley's Blog | Google rolls its own Facebook & Twitter with Gmail "Buzz"
- Sex, drug rumors swirl about N.Y. Gov. Paterson
- Republicans may be no-shows at health-plan summit
278 - State Senate votes to clear way for tax increases
250 - Pac-10 expansion to get consideration over next year
249 - Lee undergoes foot surgery
231 - Obama: GOP and Dems together can spur job growth
210 - Fort Lewis soldier charged with abusing 4-year-old, holding her head in water
193 - Rivals names Martin one of Pac-10's best recruiters
143 - Belltown boulevard could be completed by early next year
128 - Bus-tunnel attack while guards watched prompts review of Metro security
120 - White House mocks Sarah Palin from podium
92
- Seattle is first U.S. stop for Picasso exhibit
- Belltown boulevard could be completed by early next year
- 747-8 soars smoothly on first outing
- Wine Adviser | Oregon's quality pinots join the bargain ranks
- Alaska Air dropping Jones Soda beverages, going back to Coca-Cola
- Snap out of your photo funk: How to make sense of all those piles of images
- How clean are those pre-washed salad greens?
- Answers to biggest Olympic TV questions
- Brier Dudley's Blog | Google rolls its own Facebook & Twitter with Gmail "Buzz"
- Jerry Brewer | Huskies softball pitcher Danielle Lawrie: A star on the field, not in her mind







