Yahoo's CEO Jerry Yang said yesterday that Microsoft is 'no longer interested' in buying the pioneering Internet firm, but is considering 'other partnerships'.
Yang also maintained that Yahoo is 'not under siege' despite a threatened stockholder revolt led by billionaire corporate raider Carl Icahn.
Yang's comments came during a speech at an 'All Things Digital' conference organised by the Wall Street Journal in the southern California city of Carlsbad.
'Microsoft is no longer interested in buying the company and they are discussing various other partnerships with us,' Yang said, echoing comments made the prior evening by Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer. 'We are listening,' he added.
Yang implied that sparring that took place between the companies while Microsoft's nearly $50 billion offer was on the table has given way to talks aimed at finding a way for them to work together.
Microsoft could have taken a 'much more hostile' tact and tried to oust the Yahoo board of directors that rebuffed advances by the software giant, according to Yang.
He stressed that it was Microsoft, not Yahoo, which walked away from the bargaining table. Microsoft says it broke off takeover talks in late April after it upped its February 1 bid of $44.6 billion by $3 billion and Yahoo's board still wanted more.
Yang defended the board's handling of failed takeover talks with Microsoft and pleaded anew the case that the struggling Internet firm is poised to recapture its former glory and a bigger share of online advertising dollars.
Microsoft wanted to buy Yahoo to better take on Google, which dominates the lucrative world of Internet search and advertising.
