Yahoo CEO apologizes in memo, board meets • Hacker News Board

Re: Yahoo CEO apologizes in memo, board meets

#11

Post by s3b » Tue, May 08, 2012, 2:26 PM UTC

qty899 wrote: post #8

jizzard wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Loeb, chief executive of hedge fund Third Point, which holds 5.8 percent of Yahoo's shares" "Yahoo, whose revenue slid by more than a fifth last year" Loeb might just be looking for a scapegoat.

I'm not sure what you're implying. He doesn't run Yahoo. He makes no managerial decisions. He doesn't even sit on Yahoo's board.

But he's responsible for his fund investing a huge amount in a bad stock. He's probably trying to find a scapegoat for that decision.

Re: Yahoo CEO apologizes in memo, board meets

#12

Post by [deleted] » Tue, May 08, 2012, 2:30 PM UTC

s3b wrote: post #11

qty899 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what you're implying. He doesn't run Yahoo. He makes no managerial decisions. He doesn't even sit on Yahoo's board.

But he's responsible for his fund investing a huge amount in a bad stock. He's probably trying to find a scapegoat for that decision.

[deleted]

Re: Yahoo CEO apologizes in memo, board meets

#13

Post by zafriedman » Tue, May 08, 2012, 2:36 PM UTC

mml wrote: post #6

and rightly he should. as ceo, he really needs to be able to express the complexity of functions in big-o notation. for shame.

He should at least be able to derive an efficient algorithm to not being a lying sack of shit. He should probably resign it's not about the usefulness of the CS degree itself, I don't think anyone would argue that point. It's about an organization that is all but on the brink of both cultural and perhaps total collapse (at least as we know it in its current form), and then the leader of that organization brings a distraction like this into the mix, you've got to be kidding me. The only argument that makes some sense for why he shouldn't go is that he hasn't really been there for any time at all. But he is absolutely heaping more shit onto an already steaming pile. He shouldn't have even mentioned it in the first place, I doubt it had very much to do with him getting hired, and if it did, let's get the board members who think college major is a sufficient condition for hiring a Fortune 500 CEO out of there.

Re: Yahoo CEO apologizes in memo, board meets

#14

Post by dr_ » Tue, May 08, 2012, 2:41 PM UTC

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #3

I really don't understand what Loeb is doing here. At this point in Thompson's career, whether he has a CS degree or not just seems completely immaterial. I can appreciate the "trust" issue, but Yahoo is in such a bad place that distracting the executive team even more seems like a really bad idea. The only thing that makes sense to me is that Loeb has his own candidate he wants in the top spot, so he's going to torp…

Yea it's all a bit odd - it's certainly not right that Thompson lied on his resume, but it's not clear why Loeb as a stakeholder in a fragile company would want to hurt it further.

He runs a hedge fund - someone should investigate whether he has a short position on the stock.

Re: Yahoo CEO apologizes in memo, board meets

#15

Post by xyahoo » Tue, May 08, 2012, 2:51 PM UTC

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #3

I really don't understand what Loeb is doing here. At this point in Thompson's career, whether he has a CS degree or not just seems completely immaterial. I can appreciate the "trust" issue, but Yahoo is in such a bad place that distracting the executive team even more seems like a really bad idea. The only thing that makes sense to me is that Loeb has his own candidate he wants in the top spot, so he's going to torp…

From what I can tell as an outsider: Loeb thinks the company is valued at $18 - $20 range or possibly higher (thanks to its Asian assets). If he can drive down the price, he can load up some more.

Once he gets a significant voice in the company (via more board members), he will force them to sell their Asian assets, quickly driving up the price to the desired range. Having loaded up at around $15 and assuming it hits $20, you're looking at a quick 33% ROI. That's what hedge funds do; they don't usually invest for the long haul.