Reptile Academy

 

Logline:   Learn to be a sociopath and win the race.

Up the Ying Yang – Now It’s Official

Jerry Yang In?

Jerry Yang Out

Nothing focuses the mind like losing billions and billions of dollars. After Jerry Yang’s catastrophic decision not to sell to Microsoft a few months ago, Yahoo tanked, and Jerry decided to stand down. Microsoft is off again, off again waiting game will probably end with a bid for Yahoo. They need it to combat Google, even though the combination of two tired corporations doesn’t get them close to taking on one really good one.

The internet is a brutal unpredictable business, a place where there’s no sure thing – well not for very long at least. Where bricks and mortar companies can stay on top for decades, an internet outfit that keeps the big kahuna tag for more than a few months is doing alright. With the risks so high, it was no wonder that when Jerry Yang had his bluff so badly called, he was finished as CEO. But to be fair, he was never the right man for CEO job. He was simply too close to Yahoo. Unable to be objective, he called the price of the company far too high, and paid the price. Where one asks was the rest of the board, when Yang needed their objectivity.

But that was yesterday.  Perhaps it’s time for another high stakes player to take over. One idea might be the other Jerry Yang, World Series of Poker Champion of 2007. Now there’s a guy who knows how to bluff.

Up The Ying Yang

And I thought I had poor financial judgment. Wow. Steve Yang and the rest of guys at Yahoo turned down a very decent 33 dollar per share offer earlier this year, because they thought the company was worth way more. Wrong. Yahoo is trading at $14, which is actually pretty good right now, and Microsoft says its no longer interested. If Yang hadn’t played hardball he would have looked like a genius about now.