You probably have not missed it. Microsoft put a hostile take-over bid of around $40 billion for Yahoo! People generally agree that a Microsoft buying Yahoo! is a crazy idea, but the bid is there. So something has to happen. Jerry Yang, the CEO of Yahoo wrote an internal memo to all employees, which, quite frankly, I found utterly stupid.
Subject: Building on our strengths
yahoos –
first off, I want to thank you for the great job youre doing staying
focused on executing our priorities. theres obviously been a lot of
talk about yahoo! in recent days and we wont let it distract us from
pursuing our transformation strategy.
roy and I have communicated about the thorough review process our
board is going through right now. the board is focused on maximizing
the value of yahoo!s tremendous assets for our shareholders. and it is
going to take the time it needs to do it right.
as weve said, no decisions have been made about microsofts proposal.
our board is thoughtfully evaluating a wide range of potential
strategic alternatives in what is a complex and evolving landscape. and
weve hired top advisors to assist through the process.
whats become clear in the past few days is how much people care
about this company. weve seen a strong show of support from our users,
advertisers, and publishers, reminding us how much they love our
products and services. and ive heard from many of you — and from other
friends and colleagues from around silicon valley and across the globe
– that we need to do whats best for yahoo! and our shareholders. i
promise you that the board is going to do that.
the microsoft interest highlights the tremendous strength of the
yahoo! brand and assets: our half billion users around the world, our
leading products and services, our open ad network, our technology, and
most of all, our amazingly talented people.
we have a lot to be excited about and theres more good news to come.
yesterday we announced a digital music partnership with rhapsody and
our acquisition of foxytunes, maker of the popular music toolbar
plugin. today we launched zimbra 5.0, a next generation e-mail and
collaboration suite thats a great milestone in our open platform and
starting point strategies. and stay tuned for exciting announcements
next week at the mobile world congress.
as we look to build on the progress weve been making, i want to make
sure you all realize how essential you are to yahoo!s success. as this
process moves forward, were going to keep you informed. your hard work
and strong commitment are more important now than ever before.
jerry
Who writes like that other than PR people? What would you feel if you received a letter like that from your biggest boss? And — I’m sorry, but I’m me and this is what I notice — what’s up with not using any capital letters, who is he, a seven-year-old? In case you hadn’t seen it in my links post, here’s John Gruber’s translation of that letter.
