Icahn leaves Yahoo! board and takes a bath

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 27 October 2009 12:53

Your IT - Home IT

According to a Reuters report, Bostock said "Carl has been an important member of our board and has helped us through some significant transitions."

"We are all grateful for his active role shaping the future of Yahoo," he added.

One might be forgiven for thinking that Bostock is mostly grateful that Yahoo! survived as an independent company after Icahn's intervention.

The experience appears to have been costly for Icahn. Most of his 62.8 million Yahoo! shares (around 4.5% of the company) were reportedly purchased in the low to mid $US20 range.

Yet last month, he sold nearly 13 million of them for less than $US15, which could mean a loss of $US130 million or even more.

After Icahn's selloff, Yahoo! shares rose above $US17.50, but after the news of his resignation became known they resumed a downward trend, trading most recently at $US16.87.

Admittedly, many stock prices are well below where they were in February 2008. But if you were a Yahoo! shareholder, wouldn't you be wishing you'd cashed out at $US31?