Allen & Co.

"Do you let the fox in the henhouse?"

So asked Jerry Yang, co-founder and chief executive of Yahoo, as we chatted for more than an hour one afternoon last week at Allen & Co.'s annual conference.

The fox in question, of course, is Carl Icahn, the activist investor who is trying to oust Yang and the Yahoo board so he can sell the company to Microsoft. "I don't mean to impugn anyone's personal integrity," Yang quickly added. Let it never be said that Yang lacks manners.

Sony Corp. Chairman Howard Stringer believes the company doesn't need to lower the price of the PlayStation 3 video-game console in response to a possible $50 cut in the Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360.

A price reduction by Microsoft would be evidence the Xbox 360 is falling behind in the contest for sales, Stringer said in an interview Friday at the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Google Inc. backs Yahoo in its effort to stave off an unsolicited takeover by Microsoft Corp. because an independent Yahoo will increase competition in the Internet search and advertising markets, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said here Thursday.

"We absolutely support the decision that Yahoo made" in rejecting the Microsoft overture, Schmidt said at the annual Allen & Co. media summit at this Idaho resort. He made the comments during an hourlong interview with reporters. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were also present.

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch plans to forgo making deals at this year's Allen & Co. media retreat, dampening the five-day event renowned as an incubator for big-time media and Web combinations.

"Not today, not this week," Murdoch told reporters Wednesday morning on his way to the annual retreat's opening breakfast. Murdoch built his media and entertainment empire through brash dealmaking at Sun Valley and elsewhere, including last year's purchase of Dow Jones Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal.