Influential Yahoo investor Gordon Crawford, who controls a 6.5% slug of Yahoo stock, has told Jerry Yang and his remaining allies that he's ready to link up with Carl Icahn in Carl's proxy fight, Kara Swisher reports. That's the polite version. Actually, it sounds like Gordy and his lieutenants pounded Jerry like the Marines hazed Gomer Pyle in "Full Metal Jacket" immediately after the Jelly Donut scene:
At the meeting, according to several sources with knowledge of the encounter, Yang–as well as Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and board members Ron Burkle and Gary Wilson–strongly defended their actions thus far.
...But Crawford and his top analysts aggressively questioned Yang’s assertions and pressed him on Yahoo’s strategy going forward.
And they indicated they had lost patience, as Yahoo shares have drifted downward in the wake of the collapse of Microsoft’s takeover attempt... According to sources, Crawford told the Yahoo contingent that he was considering backing Icahn’s new board slate–although he has not yet firmly committed to it–if the company did not engage with Microsoft over some sort of deal or find a suitable alternative.
We've already noted that Gordy and Carl make for strange bedfellows, but so do Carl and Steve Ballmer. Carl and anyone who uses a computer, really. That's not the point.
What is the point? If Crawford really intended to side with Icahn, he could have done so already. Instead, by threatening Yang and co, then leaking said threat, Gordy is trying to get a point across to Jerry. He wants Jerry to sell to Microsoft himself, or "find a suitable alternative". We're assuming he doesn't mean the AOL combination that Yahoo is now reportedly pursuing. So what exactly does he have in mind?
UPDATE: Jerry reportedly wants the AOL deal in hand before his Aug. 1 shareholders meeting. But that's not going to happen, a source tells Reuters. The same source also pees on any possbility of a News Corp./MySpace deal.
See Also: Gordon Crawford To Carl Icahn: You're Not So Clueless, After All
