On Carl Icahn's Settlement -- And New Responsibilities -- With Yahoo

Well, we finally have a resolution to Carl Icahn and his machinations at Yahoo so we can all go back to worrying about the economy, interest rates and mortgage foreclosures. Carl has been pacified and the company can go forward carrying on its business activities on a normal basis (whatever normal is). Best of all, in my opinion, is that Carl will now personally be a Board member and he will be taken into the "inside" of the company and be subject to all of the normal restrictions with which a Board member is faced every day. He will exercise his fiduciary duty to represent all of the shareholders and use his business judgment as to how to guide the company on strategic issues. He will also be restricted by Sarbanes Oxley on how he behaves and, if we are really lucky, he will be appointed to the audit committee and have the further burden of being a steward of the company's finances. Based on my experience with public company boards, board meetings usually take 3-4 hours but audit committees require an additional 3 hours. Carl can use his creative talents to maximum advantage by channeling his financial acumen towards helping the company on a constructive basis in meeting the challenges faced in being a director of a public company. (I can't wait until he deals with Section 404 of Sarbanes Oxley and has to judge Yahoo's internal controls.) Alternatively he can serve on the compensation committee and deal with employee retention issues and creating imaginative pay-for-performance structures. Better still, he can assume the role of lead director, an important position for an independent director to interface with shareholders and be responsive to grievances from unhappy shareholders.

In my opinion the most constructive part of the settlement is the requirement that Icahn Enterprises maintain holdings of at least 30 million shares (currently valued at $650mm) in order to retain the board seat. This is as it should be. If a shareholder wishes to be an activist, he or she should have an interest in the long-term success of the company and not have the luxury of agitating in public with no constructive plan, no burden of fiduciary obligation and the ability to swing in and out at their pleasure. Long-term owners, in my opinion, are permitted to express their opinions vocally and through the proxy mechanism. In his new role, Carl will now have access to the deliberations and issues faced by the existing board in considering whether to accept the Microsoft officer of $33 per share. He may find that it was not a clear black and white decision and that there may have been mitigating factors to be considered which complicated the company's response. We will never know, since those were matters for board consideration, but perhaps Carl will now have an insider's perspective on the decision process.

Good luck, Carl, in your new role. The shareholders will be holding you accountable for your actions together with the other Board members.

Welcome aboard!

In full disclosure the writer has no economic interest in Yahoo nor has he previously held any economic interest.

Comments

[dadw5boys]

Ichan knocked Yahoo and people sold stock which he bought cheap. He saved millions and picked up stock. That is a reverse pump and dump and is illegal but the SEC can't stop Hedge Funds from robbing people with excesses of swaping and trading oil futures either.

[NABNYC]

I wouldn't count on the idea that just because someone is sitting on the board of directors means they will develop a conscience and do the right thing. When is the last time we read about a director going to prison, or losing their home, because of some fraudulent conduct by a business? It doesn't happen.

If Joe owns a corner store, everything he does is between him and the customers. It's a personal, direct relationship, and has the tendency to force a business owner to stay honest or shut down. The corporation is designed to allow people to operate a business in a dishonest and fraudulent manner, to harm the customers, suppliers, and the community, to enrich the few, and to completely escape liability for doing so.

The real solution is to eliminate the corporate form which exists only for the purpose of helping people avoid liability. All businesses should just be run as dbas (Joe's grocery), and the "investors" invest money and take a percentage of the profits. The people who run the business (and the investors if they participate in the decisions) are responsible for everything the business does, and can lose their assets and go to prison for corporate acts. Tobacco executives, for example, in a non-corporate business, could be tried for murder. Halliburton owners and managers could be charged for the rape of its female employees. Blackwater owners and managers could be tried for the murder of Iraqi civilians.

Eliminate the corporation.

[iambusto]

a corporation on protects personal assets of the owners (the investors). meaning it has limited liability (only to the extent of equity invested in the corporation). that only applies to investors in the corporation.

the managers and directors are not above any liability. blame the govt. for not making a case or not prosecuting them. Dont blame "the corporation".

[Mr_Smarty_Pants]

Icahn doesn't go after companies with great management. Icahn is there because Jerry couldn't do his job. stocks have been in a downward spiral since he(Jerry) took control a little over a year ago.

And dont play Carl off as being naive about how a board works. He's done this a couple times....

[freshnotbitter]

I listen to yahoo! Music Jukebox - at least I did untill yesterday when I was transfered to Rhapsody because there will not be any yahoo jukebox anymore after sep 30

The quality of sound I got on yahoo was much better than rhapsody.

I wish yahoo were allowed to build a good product like the japanese instead of being constantly harangued by hyenas like carl icahn who squeeze the juice out of a product and leave behind a dead corpse of no use to anybody