Secure in knowing that he will get minority seats on Yahoo’s board, Carl Icahn has decided to skip tomorrow’s shareholder meeting. He doesn’t want to cause a “media event,” he says. (Because he’s so shy, you know).
Seriously, it’s probably a good idea for him not to show up. On his blog he explains his reasons, and his thinking on why he settled for a compromise deal with Yahoo instead of going ahead with a full proxy battle:
Realizing I could not gain control, I saw no point in spending the final two weeks in a debilitating fight, where little would be accomplished except to build animosity between both camps and the end result would be no better than the compromise that was reached. In fact, in winning a minority position on a board by a fight to the end, you always have to be concerned that you may be “boxed” out by the majority that remains on the board. Committees can be formed that you are excluded from and you are given information only on a need to know basis. An important part of my compromise with Yahoo is that the board in the settlement agreement has agreed “that any meaningful transaction, including the strategy in dealing with that transaction, will be fully discussed with the entire board before any final decision is made.” Additionally, if any committee is formed to negotiate a meaningful transaction, Carl Icahn will be a member of that committee.
In other words, it might become a media and shareholder circus tomorrow. But don’t look for anything “meaningful” to happen until afterwards, when the new board is in place.
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