Yahoo! rejects $44.6 billion takover bid by Microsoft

By Jason Bennert

February 11, 2008

Internet giant Yahoo! today formally rejected the $44.6 billion takeover bid made by Microsoft earlier this month.

The Microsoft bid for Yahoo! is worth $31 a share. However, in a statement released today, the Yahoo! board of directors concluded that the company is worth more than that.

"After careful evaluation, the board believes that Microsoft's proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo! including our global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects, free cash flow and earnings potential, as well as our substantial unconsolidated investments,'' the Yahoo! statement said.

Yahoo! was founded by Stanford University graduate students Dave Filo and Jerry Yang in 1994. It managed to survive the dot-com bust of the early 2000s that claimed its original competitors such as Infoseek and Excite but has faced serious competition in the last few years from Google. Microsoft officials did not have an immediate response to the rejection of their offer.

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