Yahoo Japan

Yahoo Japan Corp. and EBay Inc. agreed to team up in online auctions, planning services for next year that will make it easier to buy things over the Internet from the U.S. and Japan. The move marks a return to Japan of EBay, which pulled out of the market in 2002, unable to compete against the domination of Yahoo there. Yahoo said that by March, Japanese would be able to bid for items up for sale on EBay through the Yahoo auction site in Japan.

SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo Inc.'s first-quarter earnings report was seen by some as an early test of Marissa Mayer's ability to turn around the troubled Internet company. Investors now seem to be worried Mayer might not pass that test. Shares that have surged more than 50% since Mayer took over Yahoo in July plunged more than 4% to $22.78 in extended trading Tuesday after the company reported that its display advertising business had suffered declining revenue for the second straight quarter.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tongues are wagging that SoftBank's billionaire founder, Masayoshi Son, may be the buyer of a $117.5-million estate in Woodside. No one is willing to go on the record -- everyone involved signed non-disclosure agreements. But one real estate source who requested anonymity because he didn't want to jeopardize future business relations said Son bought the exclusive property in the woodsy and very wealthy heart of Silicon Valley. Son is one of the richest men in Japan.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tongues are wagging that SoftBank's billionaire founder, Masayoshi Son, may be the buyer of a $117.5-million estate in Woodside. No one is willing to go on the record -- everyone involved signed non-disclosure agreements. But one real estate source who requested anonymity because he didn't want to jeopardize future business relations said Son bought the exclusive property in the woodsy and very wealthy heart of Silicon Valley. Son is one of the richest men in Japan.

SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo Inc.'s first-quarter earnings report was seen by some as an early test of Marissa Mayer's ability to turn around the troubled Internet company. Investors now seem to be worried Mayer might not pass that test. Shares that have surged more than 50% since Mayer took over Yahoo in July plunged more than 4% to $22.78 in extended trading Tuesday after the company reported that its display advertising business had suffered declining revenue for the second straight quarter.

Schwab Soundview analyst Jordan Rohan cut his rating on Yahoo Inc. to "neutral" from "outperform" out of concern that Yahoo Japan was overpriced. Trading at 87 times earnings, excluding certain costs, Yahoo Japan is the world's most expensive Web stock, Rohan said. Yahoo owns 34% of Yahoo Japan, and it could suffer if shares of the Japanese unit tumble, he said. Yahoo shares fell $1.22 to $48.77 on Nasdaq. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo reports first-quarter earnings today.

Japanese telecommunications company Softbank said Friday that it would sell almost all its 4% stake in Yahoo Inc. to repay a loan of about $1.1 billion to Citibank. Softbank said it would transfer the shares to Citibank to pay off the loan, which it took out in 2004. However, Yahoo shares have fallen about 45% since then, meaning the market value of the stake is now closer to $660 million. Softbank said the transaction was provided for under the agreement by which it obtained the loan, allowing it to repay either in cash or Yahoo shares.

Launch Media, the Santa Monica Internet music company, is expanding to Japan through a partnership to be announced today with two Internet heavyweights. Softbank Publishing, a subsidiary of Japanese Internet investor Softbank Corp., and Yahoo Japan will join Launch in creating a joint venture called Launch Japan, a music Web site with songs and editorial content in Japanese. Softbank Publishing will own 50% of the new company, while Launch will have a 30% stake and Yahoo Japan will own 10%.

Yahoo Inc. said late Wednesday that it would pay $1 billion in cash for a 40% stake in Alibaba.com, one of China's biggest Internet companies, establishing China as the newest front in the war among online giants. Yahoo said it would merge its Chinese operations with Alibaba, which offers a search engine, e-commerce site, online auctions and online payments. The new company would be led by Alibaba Chief Executive Jack Ma and would do business under the Yahoo name.

EBay Inc. said Wednesday that it was involved in talks to buy a minority stake in the South Korean online marketplace operator Gmarket Inc. The discussions are with Interpark Corp. and its chairman, Ki Hyung Lee, who own a combined 37% of Gmarket. Yahoo Inc. also owns a stake in Gmarket. A purchase would mark EBay's latest move to capture the online auction market outside the United States. The company says more than half of its revenue already comes from abroad.

Japanese telecommunications company Softbank said Friday that it would sell almost all its 4% stake in Yahoo Inc. to repay a loan of about $1.1 billion to Citibank. Softbank said it would transfer the shares to Citibank to pay off the loan, which it took out in 2004. However, Yahoo shares have fallen about 45% since then, meaning the market value of the stake is now closer to $660 million. Softbank said the transaction was provided for under the agreement by which it obtained the loan, allowing it to repay either in cash or Yahoo shares.

Yahoo Japan Corp. and EBay Inc. agreed to team up in online auctions, planning services for next year that will make it easier to buy things over the Internet from the U.S. and Japan. The move marks a return to Japan of EBay, which pulled out of the market in 2002, unable to compete against the domination of Yahoo there. Yahoo said that by March, Japanese would be able to bid for items up for sale on EBay through the Yahoo auction site in Japan.

Yahoo Inc. said late Wednesday that it would pay $1 billion in cash for a 40% stake in Alibaba.com, one of China's biggest Internet companies, establishing China as the newest front in the war among online giants. Yahoo said it would merge its Chinese operations with Alibaba, which offers a search engine, e-commerce site, online auctions and online payments. The new company would be led by Alibaba Chief Executive Jack Ma and would do business under the Yahoo name.

Schwab Soundview analyst Jordan Rohan cut his rating on Yahoo Inc. to "neutral" from "outperform" out of concern that Yahoo Japan was overpriced. Trading at 87 times earnings, excluding certain costs, Yahoo Japan is the world's most expensive Web stock, Rohan said. Yahoo owns 34% of Yahoo Japan, and it could suffer if shares of the Japanese unit tumble, he said. Yahoo shares fell $1.22 to $48.77 on Nasdaq. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo reports first-quarter earnings today.

Launch Media, the Santa Monica Internet music company, is expanding to Japan through a partnership to be announced today with two Internet heavyweights. Softbank Publishing, a subsidiary of Japanese Internet investor Softbank Corp., and Yahoo Japan will join Launch in creating a joint venture called Launch Japan, a music Web site with songs and editorial content in Japanese. Softbank Publishing will own 50% of the new company, while Launch will have a 30% stake and Yahoo Japan will own 10%.

EBay Inc., the largest Internet auctioneer, will close its money-losing Web site in Japan this month after two years of struggling to gain online sales there. The company will shut down the site March 31 and give severance packages to the 17 employees, spokesman Kevin Pursglove said. It's the first time EBay has closed an overseas site. EBay is the fourth-largest online-auction site in Japan, falling short of the company's goal of being the biggest in each of its 17 overseas markets.

Yahoo Inc. wants the Securities and Exchange Commission to exempt the company from regulation as a mutual fund, in a request that could set a precedent for other Web businesses. Yahoo, which at first glance doesn't have much in common with fund managers such as Fidelity Investments, has stock holdings in other Web companies that have soared to such values that they represent at least three-quarters of Yahoo's total assets.