Editing Jerry Yang (section)

==== Microsoft negotiations ====
In February 2008, [[Microsoft]] made an unsolicited offer to buy Yahoo! for  $44.6 billion; at the time Yahoo! was still struggling to catch up to Google, while Microsoft was still seeking an internet search strategy.<ref>{{cite news|title=Yahoo weighs up options|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6445d618-d293-11dc-8636-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1|newspaper=Financial Times|date=February 3, 2008}}</ref>  The offer was a 62% premium to Yahoo!'s market value at the time.<ref name=Parmy/> The negotiations were difficult, as Yang had no desire to sell Yahoo! and would not make a counter offer.<ref name=NYT2008>{{cite news|title=Microsoft's Failed Yahoo Bid Risks Online Growth|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/technology/05soft.html?_r=4&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=May 6, 2008 | first=Steve | last=Lohr | date=May 5, 2008}}</ref> Once the negotiations ended in failure in May 2008, Yahoo!'s stock price plunged.<ref name=Parmy/><ref name=NYT2008/> Yang and board chairman Roy Bostock were strongly criticized by investors for their handling of negotiations, which later led to several shareholder lawsuits and a proxy fight led by [[Carl Icahn]], which was settled in July 2008.<ref>Rob Hof for Bloomberg BusinessWeek TechBeat July 21, 2008 [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2008-07-20/yahoo-settles-proxy-fight-with-icahn-whats-next  Yahoo Settles Proxy Fight With Icahn; What's Next?]</ref>

Yang's response to the Microsoft takeover was to make a commercial search advertising arrangement with [[Google]] but they ended negotiation after U.S. authorities voiced concerns regarding the effect on competition in the market.<ref name=Parmy/>