Yahoo Inc

Microsoft Corp. turned to Internet pioneer Yahoo Inc. for help in fighting its biggest-ever competitive threat, then only made that threat stronger. Yahoo and Microsoft on Thursday said they had ended nearly five months of merger and partnership talks born of the software giant's frustration with falling far behind Google Inc. in online advertising. Yahoo shares plunged more than 10% to $23.52. But after the stock market closed, the Sunnyvale, Calif.

Yahoo Inc. executives are headed for the door as the struggling Internet pioneer prepares for a major reorganization while fending off a contentious proxy fight that could cost co-founder Jerry Yang his job as chief executive. The brain drain accelerated as a potential buyout by Microsoft Corp. faded and resignation settled in that the Sunnyvale, Calif., company's fortunes would be tied to new ad partner Google Inc.

Yahoo Inc. is setting up a new chain of command amid the turmoil triggered by the beleaguered Internet icon's snub of Microsoft Corp.'s $47.5-billion takeover bid. Yahoo Executive Vice Presidents Hilary Schneider and Ash Patel are being given expanded responsibilities over the Sunnyvale, Calif., company's products and sales teams.

The battle for Yahoo Inc. heated up over the weekend when the Internet giant rejected a proposal from Microsoft Corp. and billionaire investor Carl Icahn to break up Yahoo. The "take it or leave it" proposal entailed selling Yahoo's search business to Microsoft and handing control of the rest of the company to Icahn, Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock said in an interview. It was also conditioned on the removal of Yahoo's board and management.

As if the battle over the fate of Yahoo Inc. didn't have enough drama, a Microsoft Corp. executive Tuesday accused Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang of acknowledging during a private meeting that the company's Web search advertising deal with Google Inc. would reduce competition. The testimony by Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith roiled a Senate subcommittee hearing on the proposed Yahoo-Google deal, which was also the subject of a House subcommittee hearing.

Yahoo Inc.'s board of directors landed its first endorsement from a major institutional shareholder Friday, giving it momentum in the fight with investor-agitator Carl Icahn over control of the Internet company. Bill Miller, who as Legg Mason Capital Management's chief investment officer controls 4.4% of the stock in Yahoo, said he would vote to keep the current board in place instead of backing a dissident slate nominated by Icahn. Icahn has allied with Microsoft Corp.

The corporate drama that has weighed heavily on Yahoo Inc.'s managers also cut into the Internet giant's second-quarter earnings report Tuesday. Investors were braced for worse. Profit declined again in the second quarter and missed Wall Street's lowered expectations. Yahoo attributed the shortfall to increased spending on new projects and fees to advisors in its takeover battle with Microsoft Corp. and proxy fight with dissident shareholder Carl Icahn. "It was a disappointment," Sanford C.

Microsoft Corp. executives ruled out an acquisition of Yahoo Inc. on Thursday, even as they acknowledged that the Internet company would have provided a needed boost in online search, where the software giant trails leader Google Inc. Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell told Microsoft investors assembled for an annual day of presentations that the odds of a takeover were "so small as to be essentially negligible," because the two sides continue to disagree about how much Yahoo is worth.

Billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens has sold all his holdings in Yahoo Inc. in a pique over the way the Internet company's management handled sales talks with Microsoft Corp. Pickens told the San Francisco Chronicle that he sold all 10 million of his Yahoo shares, at a loss, because he grew frustrated with the company's repeated rebuffs of Microsoft's advances. "I think that Yahoo management was pathetic," Pickens told the Chronicle in a story published Tuesday.

For 18 hours each week, Internet investor Jonathan Miller studies tai chi in New York with legendary master Ren Guang-Yi, whose devotees include Lou Reed, Bette Midler, Hugh Jackman and other celebrities. During the sessions, Miller's lanky frame flows through fluid, continuous movements, punctuated by quick bursts of energy. Three decades of Chinese martial arts have made his limbs so supple that he can do the splits at 51.