Internet pioneer

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.

Yahoo Inc.'s leaders defended online search leader Google Inc. as a more desirable partner than Microsoft Corp. in a letter that affirmed the Internet pioneer's commitment to a strategy that has alienated shareholders.

Yahoo embraced its planned advertising partnership with Google amid reports that it had revived talks about a possible deal with Microsoft. The report, based information from unnamed people, surfaced despite Yahoo's repeated rejection of the software maker since their tense mating dance began nearly five months ago.

Yahoo Inc.'s steadily sinking stock pulled out of its descent Tuesday on reports that the Internet pioneer is reconsidering its recent decision to fall into the arms of online search leader Google Inc. instead of Microsoft Corp.

The prospect of Yahoo spurning Google in favor of an alternative deal with Microsoft cheered investors still disillusioned with Yahoo's rejection of a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft.

One of Yahoo Inc.'s disgruntled shareholders is urging Microsoft Corp. to make a more compelling case for its bid to buy the Internet pioneer's search operations -- a proposal that was trumped by an advertising deal Yahoo reached with Google Inc.

Mithras Capital, which owns 1.7 million Yahoo shares, made the plea to Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer in a letter sent Thursday.

Yahoo Inc. may have to defend its response to Microsoft Corp.'s takeover attempt in a trial that could sway the outcome of the Internet pioneer's August showdown with investor activist Carl Icahn.

The legal drama will unfold next month if a Delaware judge grants a request made by attorneys for Yahoo shareholders.

The disgruntled shareholders are seeking to cancel an employee severance plan that Yahoo's board adopted shortly after Microsoft made its initial bid of $44.6 billion, or $31 per share.

Antagonistic investor Carl Icahn became a billionaire by bullying already distressed companies, but his harassment of Yahoo Inc. could leave him with a black eye -- and a hole in his wallet -- if he's wrong about Microsoft Corp.'s desire to buy the Internet pioneer.

Icahn, 72, has used a combination of guile, gall, grit and gamesmanship to get his way more often than not since he began tormenting vulnerable companies 30 years ago. The conquests helped Icahn build an estimated fortune of $14 billion after starting out on Wall Street with a $4,000 bankroll from his winnings playing poker.

Yahoo Inc. on Thursday postponed a looming showdown for control of its board, giving itself more time to prepare a defense -- or negotiate a sale to Microsoft Corp. that would cause activist investor Carl Icahn to call off the mutiny.

The showdown pitting the slumping Internet pioneer's board against Icahn and other unhappy shareholders was supposed to come to a head at the Sunnyvale-based company's July 3 annual meeting.

Lawyers on both sides of a shareholder lawsuit over Yahoo Inc.'s board's handling of Microsoft's $47.5 billion (EU30.37 billion) takeover offer are accusing one another of turning it into a public relations battle.

A Delaware judge weighing the shareholders' request to make their complaint against the company public held a private phone conference with lawyers for Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo and dissident shareholders Tuesday morning.

Google has surpassed Yahoo to become the most popular Web site in the United States, according to comScore Inc.'s rankings by the number of unique monthly visitors.

Google Inc. has long been the Internet's leader in search, but its audience has trailed Yahoo Inc.'s when counting other services such as e-mail and photo sharing.

April's numbers, which Internet tracking firm comScore plans to formally release Thursday, show Google on top for the first time.

Just how serious was Microsoft Corp. about raising its bid to $47.5 billion for slumping Internet pioneer Yahoo Inc.?

The answer is taking on greater importance as more outraged Yahoo shareholders threaten to sue the company's board -- or try to replace the 10 directors -- for the way they responded to Microsoft's sweetened offer.

With shareholders up in arms, Sunnyvale-based Yahoo has been trying to raise doubts about the legitimacy of Microsoft's last bid of $33 a share by pointing out that it wasn't submitted in writing.