MasterCard Posts Strong Q3 Earnings

MasterCard released its Q3 earnings today showing a 63% jump in net income. CEO Robert Selander stated that positive secular trends and outstanding growth in international and emerging markets greatly contributed to the company’s successful quarter (see Steven Towns’ article from Seeking Alpha). We decided to create an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of the Board of Directors at MasterCard in order to “visualize” their experience (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

The first thing we notice is that the Directors at MasterCard also currently hold or have held positions at several other financial firms. Some examples are Steven Freiberg (Chairman/CEO of Citigroup’s Global Consumer Group), Robert Selander (CEO of MasterCard and Director of The Hartford Group), Mark Schwartz (Chairman of MissionPoint Capital Partners), and Nancy Karch (Director Emeritus for McKinsey & Company and Director at Genworth Financial). Other companies the Directors are involved in include Premier Oil, Imperial Chemical Industries, Lafarge, Europay, IMS Health, Nabisco, Toys R Us, Gillette, Alliance Data, and Liz Claiborne.

Some of the non-corporate organizations that the Directors serve on are the Financial Services Roundtable, Massachusetts General Hospital, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Westchester Land Trust, and the American Fold Art Museum.

This experience has most likely helped prepare the Directors at MasterCard for any adverse conditions that they might face.

Click here for an interactive version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map (Internet Explorer browsers only): http://nv.intellectspace.com/ispace/GuestMonitor.aspx?id=8f8a9171-5a4d-44d7-8e1f-aa5f3daa6a0b

Yesterday T-Mobile, Today Verizon and Sprint

Interest in Google’s G-Phone is starting to increase as rumors continue to circulate that the Internet search giant will unveil the new software and services in the coming weeks, with the phone set to go on sale in mid-2008. The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch.com both reported yesterday that Google was in discussions with T-Mobile to provide the wireless service (see yesterday’s article from NewsVisual). Today The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is in “advanced talks” with carriers Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel (see Amol Sharma’s article from The Wall Street Journal). Because of the large amount of buzz generated by this story we decided to create IntellectSpace Knowledge Maps of Google’s corporate ties to both Verizon and Sprint Nextel. These Knowledge Maps (along with the one of Google’s ties to T-Mobile) should allow us to determine if any service provider has an advantage (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Google and T-Mobile in a Deal for the New Google Phone?

With its shares getting ready to pass $700 per share (it hit $600 less than a month ago), Google announced that it plans to unveil its new mobile phone in the next few weeks with the phones going on sale in mid-2008. Much like Apple’s iPhone has a deal with AT&T, it has also been rumored that Google will partner with wireless operator T-Mobile USA (see John Leitzig’s article from MarketWatch.com). We decided to create an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map to determine if any corporate ties between Google and T-Mobile might have played a role in allowing them to formulate a deal (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Proctor & Gamble Loaded With Experience

Consumer-products giant Proctor & Gamble Co reported today that quarterly income increased 14% on the year due to increased sales laundry products, fragrances, razor blades, and diapers. P&G also warned that its profit margin will be under pressure for the foreseeable future due to rising raw material and energy costs (see article by Angela Moore and Matt Andrejczak from MarketWatch.com). We decided to create an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map to see the experience behind this global company that produces so many of our everyday products.

The corporate experience displayed by the Directors at P&G is quite impressive. The Directors hold or have held positions in various industries such as entertainment, online retail, energy, finance, airline, and telecommunications. Some of the more notable examples include Ernesto Zedillo (Member of the International Advisory Board at JPMorgan Chase, Director at Electronic Data Systems Corp and Alcoa), Charles Lee (former Chairman of Verizon Communications, currently a Director at DirectTV, Marathon Oil Corp, and US Steel Corp), Scott Cook (Director at eBay), Margaret Whitman (President/CEO of eBay and Director at Dreamworks Animation), Lynn Martin (Director at AT&T and Constellation Energy Group), James McNerney Jr (Chairman/President/CEO of The Boeing Company), John Smith (former Chairman/CEO of General Motors and former Chairman Delta Air Lines), and Rajat Gupta (Director of Goldman Sachs Group).

Who Should Replace Stan O’Neal?

With Merrill Lynch Chairman/CEO Stan O’Neal seemingly on his way out within a matter of days, the question on the minds of many people is who should replace him? Mark Gongloff recently posed this question on the MarketBeat blog of The Wall Street Journal (see the article here). Gongloff proposed five candidates: Laurence Fink, John Thain, Gregory Fleming, Bob McCann, and someone else besides the previous four. We here at IntellectSpace were interested in seeing what common corporate ties these candidates might have to Merrill Lynch. To determine this we created four Knowledge Maps, one for each named candidate (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Verizon’s Board Displays Impressive Collective Experience

Verizon Communications Inc reported on Monday that it had added 1.6 million new customers to its wireless division. Verizon also reported signing up thousands of customers for its new fiber network (see Jeffrey Bartash’s article from MarketWatch.com). Since Verizon continues its impressive growth and much hype is focusing on its new fiber network, we decided to create an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of the Board of Directors at Verizon in order to “visualize” their collective corporate experience (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

We were surprised to find that the Directors at Verizon have experience in a number of industries besides telecommunications. Some more notable examples are John Stafford and Ivan Seidenburg (both Directors at Honeywell), Hugh Price (Director at Sprint and MetLife), Clarence Otis Jr (Director at Travelers, VF, and Darden Restaurants), John Snow (Director, Marathon Oil), Robert Lane (Director at John Deere and GE), Donald Nicolasien (Director at Morgan Stanley), and Walter Shipley (Director at ExxonMobil). Of particular interest is John Snow, who also served as Secretary of the Treasury under President George W. Bush.

Is Parsons On His Way Out at Time Warner?

After five years at the helm, rumor has it that Chairman/CEO Richard Parsons may step down as soon as next week ( see David Wilkerson’s article from MarketWatch.com). Rumor also has it that Parson’s replacement will be Chief Operating Officer Jeff Bewkes. However, given the vast amount of corporate experience displayed by the Board of Directors at Time Warner, we cannot dismiss the possibility that another member of the Board other than Mr. Bewkes could be selected. We created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map so that we can “visualize” the corporate experience of the Board of Directors (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Could Merrill Lynch and Wachovia Really Pull Off a Merger?

The banking world was stunned this morning when rumors surfaced that Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O’Neal had approached Charlotte, NC-based Wachovia about a possible merger. Even more surprising is that supposedly Mr. O’Neal approached Wachovia without approval from the Board of Directors at Merrill Lynch ( see Zac Bissonnette’s article from Bloggingstocks.com). Although many analysts have stated that they do not believe a merger is in the works, we here at IntellectSpace were curious as to whether or not Merrill Lynch and Wachovia had corporate ties that could play a role in a least feeling out a merger. We created a Knowledge Map to examine these ties and found some very interesting connections between Merrill Lynch and Wachovia (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Despite 3Q Results, Common Connections Could Help Countrywide Make a Turnaround

Even though it posted negative earnings in its third quarter, the first in 25 years, Countrywide Financial is optimistic about its prospects for the upcoming quarter (see article from Intermex Power). We created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of Countrywide’s Board of Directors and their current corporate connections in the hopes of identifying the leadership experience that could help the company regain its successful earnings track record (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America.

As illustrated in this Knowledge Map, nearly all of Countrywide’s Directors currently hold additional corporate leadership positions at multiple companies. Robert T Parry is currently a Director at both Janus Capital Group and Paccar Inc, and Jeffrey M Cunningham holds Executive and Board positions at companies that include Newsmarkets, Sapient and New England Ventures. Other Countrywide Directors with current management ties to multiple corporate entities are Harley W Snyder, Oscar P Robertson, Keith P Russell, Henry G Cisneros and Martin R Melone.

Will Carl Icahn Back Off After Motorola’s Q3 Earnings?

Will Carl Icahn still pursue that illusive Board seat at Motorola? The cell phone maker posted better-than-expected Q3 earnings today leaving some to wonder whether or not Carl Icahn’s restructuring plan is necessary at Motorola ( see Jonathan Berr’s article from Bloggingstocks.com) now that CEO Edward Zander’s turnaround plan seems to be working. We created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of the Directors at Motorola to “visualize” the range of their corporate experience (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

All of the Directors at Motorola have impressive credentials and experience. Among some of the more notable are Judy Lewent (former Executive VP and CFO at Merck & Co) who holds or has held directorships at Dell, Quaker Oats, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Bureau of Economic Research; and Douglas Warner III (former Chairman JPMorgan Chase & Co) who holds directorships at GE, Anheuser Busch, Bechtel, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Other companies or non-corporate organizations Directors are involved in include Yum!, Tribune, Abbott Laboratories, The Bank of New York Mellon, CornProducts International, the Georgia Tech Foundation, Northwestern University, the University of Arkansas, and the National College Athletic Association.

After the Dow Jones Takeover, Could The New York Times Be Next?

After Rupert Murdoch was able to pull off his $5 billion acquisition of Dow Jones & Company, the hot topic of industry analysts is whether The New York Times Company could be the next target of a takeover. Investors agree that a buyout could happen, though another strong possibility could be an acquisition through a content partnership. Thomas Hull, Chairman of Legendary Pictures, names Comcast, Walt Disney and Microsoft as potential candidates to consider a deal (see article from DealBook). We created IntellectSpace Knowledge Maps of the Times Co’s ties to each of these rumored suitors in the hopes of predicting the company’s next move(Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Microsoft: Diversity in Corporate Experience

Microsoft will announce its Q1 results tomorrow (Oct. 25th, 2007), with analysts expecting $.39 profit per share for $12.57 billion in revenue. This comes after better-than-expected global PC sales and the extremely successful debut of Halo 3 for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 (see Brian White’s article from Bloggingstocks.com). Since Microsoft (along with Yahoo!) is currently in a global battle with main rival Google, we were curious as to what kind of experience the Board of Directors at Microsoft had over Yahoo! (see previous NewsVisual article) and Google (see previous NewsVisual article). We were surprised to find that the experience represented on the Board at Microsoft is extremely diverse in two aspects: first, by the number of different industries represented, and second, by the unique mixture of both long-time and relatively new Directors (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Boeing Board Leadership Valuable as Third Quarter Earnings Announced

Despite news that Boeing has once again delayed the delivery of its highly anticipated 787, the company’s outlook appears positive as it announced its better than expected third quarter earnings (see article from SEC Investor). In light of these encouraging results, we created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of Boeing’s current Board connections (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

As illustrated in this Knowledge Map, all of the Directors at Boeing hold concurrent Board Memberships at other corporate entities. The connections are shown to be especially diverse, with ties to Edison International and the Walt Disney Company through John E Bryson as well as links through Rozanne L Ridgeway to Sara Lee, Manpower, 3M Company, and Emerson Electric. Other notable entities connected to Boeing through its board are JP Morgan Chase through John H Biggs, Nortel Networks through Mike S Zafirovski, and Allstate through Edward M Liddy.

These numerous current board affiliations suggests a strong degree of leadership experience by the Boeing Board of Directors. Such a network that is both strong and diverse will likely prove valuable to the company as it continues into the next year.

US Banker’s Celebrates 25 Most Powerful Women at Black and White Ball

On Monday night, US Banker’s held its Black and White Ball, recognizing the 25 most powerful women in the industry. Topping that list was Heidi G Miller, who currently serves as the Head of the Treasury and Services group at JP Morgan Chase (see article from DealBook). To achieve a better understanding how of Miller’s corporate experience helped her land the top spot on US Banker’s list, we created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of her corporate ties (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

As shown in this Knowledge Map, we can see that Miller has past Executive experience achieved from working at companies that include Citigroup, Bank One Corp and Priceline. She also has served as a Director at General Mills, Merck and Mead Corporation. The Knowledge Map also allows us to take a look at Miller’s non-corporate leadership affiliations. Some of this experience includes serving as a Trustee for Princeton University and the NYU Medical School as well as a Director for the Children’s Defense Fund.

It is not difficult to understand why Ms. Miller was chosen to head the list of the 25 most powerful women in banking. Her past and present corporate experience combined with her participation in many other diverse entities demonstrates why she is a person to follow.

Who is Vikram Pandit?

    With Citigroup posting extremely low quarterly results, talk has again resurfaced that current CEO Charles Prince will soon be on his way out. As for Prince’s replacement, much recent attention has focused on Citi’s new Head of Institutional Clients Group, Vikram Pandit. But who is Vikram Pandit? This question was recently posed by Gregory Corcoran (see his article from Deal Journal). We decided to create an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map to find out more information about Mr. Pandit (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

    Mr. Pandit has spent the majority of his professional career with Morgan Stanley, where he served as Managing Director and Head of the US Equity Syndicate from 1990-1994 and the Worldwide Institutional Equities Division from 1994-2000. He next served as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Institutional Securities and Investment Banking Group at Morgan Stanley from 2000-2005. He left Morgan Stanley in 2005 and later started his own hedge fund, Old Lane, which he then sold to Citigroup for $800 million in 2007. Mr. Pandit also served on the Board of Directors at the Nasdaq Stock Market from 2000-2003. Mr. Pandit received a BS and MS in electrical engineering and also a PhD in finance from Columbia University. He taught finance at Indiana University before starting at Morgan Stanley.

 

Corporate Experience Pays Off for AT&T

Q3 earnings for telecommunications giant AT&T Inc rose 41.5%, boosted by the acquisition of BellSouth and new wireless customers. Strong sales of Apple’s iPhone, which has an exclusive service contract with AT&T, also brought in new customers for AT&T ( see Jeffrey Bartash’s article from MarketWatch.com). Since AT&T is one of the most successful, as well oldest and largest, companies in America we decided to create on IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of the Board of Directors in order to “visualize” their corporate experience. We found that AT&T has perhaps one of the most experienced boards in corporate America, if not the world (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Amazon Connections Contribute to Successful Prospects in Latest Quarter

Yesterday, in light of Apple’s impressive quarterly earnings announcement, we asked if the company was fixing to “pull a Google” (see NewsVisual article). As Amazon prepares to make its own earnings announcement, many are now wondering if the company will follow in the successful footsteps of Apple. Its last two quarters have been exceptional as far as profit growth, and analysts are saying that the “rising proliferation of third-party sellers” in an effort to challenge eBay will once again lead to positive numbers for Amazon in this current quarter (see articles from innmoney and MarketWatch). To help readers gain additional insight into Amazon, we created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map the company’s Board of Directors, which identifies some of the key corporate entities that may prove advantageous as far as experience and potential future partnerships.

This Knowledge Map illustrates Amazon’s ties to multiple corporate and non-corporate entities through current board and executive affiliations. Some of the more notable entities include Google, Electronic Arts, Sun Microsystems and even the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Patricia Stonesifer, an Amazon Director, works closely with the Gates’ as she now serves as the foundation’s CEO. William Bingham Gordon (Director of Amazon) is the Co-Founder of Electronic Arts, as well as its EVP/Chief Creative Officer. Also, L John Doerr (Director of Amazon) is shown to have a very significant connection as he presently serves as a Director of Google.

Could Apple “Pull a Google”?

Apple Inc is scheduled to give its quarter results after the market closes today. This is expected to be one of the most highly watched reports, as shares of Apple have vaulted more than 47% since mid-August. Investors are eager to see how well Apple’s iPhone and Mac fared. Is it possible for Apple to “pull a Google” (by that we mean will Apple bury expectations)? It’s possible, with analysts’ price shares ranging from $175-$200 (see Rex Crum’s article from MarketWatch.com). With Apple being one of the most closely followed companies today, we decided to create an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of the Board of Directors at Apple. We were surprised to find that compared to the Directors at other large companies, the Directors at Apple have far fewer corporate connections. However, the connections that do exist are both impressive and often represent years of experience (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Halliburton’s Connections Run Deep in the Energy Industry

One would expect the Directors of a Fortune 500 company to have corporate ties to similar entities within its industry. However, the industry ties exhibited by oilfield services giant Halliburton Co are quite impressive. Halliburton has strong ties across the energy industry and to other industries connected to energy (for example the airline industry, the chemical industry, etc.). Halliburton posted above-expectation earnings for the Q3, with the majority of its earnings coming from overseas (see article from Bloggingstocks.com ). We created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of the corporate ties of the Board of Directors at Halliburton. We were impressed by the number of connections Halliburton has within the energy industry and other similar industries that depend on energy (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Philadelphia Exchange Has Options With Common Connections

Could certain common connections come into play as the Philadelphia Stock Exchange begins to consider takeover bids? The New York Times DealBook mentioned NYSE Euronext, parent of the New York Stock Exchange, and Nasdaq Stock Market Inc as potential buyers. After quickly generating IntellectSpace Knowledge Maps of either companies’ ties to the Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX), we found that both NYSE and Nasdaq hold at least one strong connection that could factor into a deal.

Caterpillar’s Connections Represent Valuable Experience

Is Caterpillar’s global business about to experience a slump? Perhaps, according to the company’s Q3 results. Caterpillar failed to beat Wall Street estimates, partially due to the weak U.S. housing market. However, Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens also stated that the company continued to see high growth in foreign markets (see article by Eli Hoffman from Seeking Alpha). With a drop in domestic business it seems likely that Caterpillar will focus more on international sales, particularly in emerging markets that are experiencing a construction boom. How does Caterpillar, the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment with sales on all seven continents, maintain its position year after year? Most likely through the incredible amount of diversified experience its Board of Directors bring to the company. This IntellectSpace Knowledge Map allows you to “visualize” the experience of the Directors at this Fortune 100 company (Note: information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

3M Directors Have a Collective Experience Across a Wide Variety of Industries

3M posted Q3 earnings of 7.4% on Friday, reporting that strong international sales helped the company earn $960 million ($1.32/share) according to Seeking Alpha ( see article by Roy Mehta). However, given the volatility of foreign markets and the complexity of local conditions, we at NewsVisual feel that competent management experience must have also played a role. In order to assess this we created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of the Board of Directors at 3M. What we found was that the Directors have a remarkable amount of experience in industries ranging from insurance to finance to telecommunications to government. Collectively this vast amount of experience in a wide variety of industries must be a key component to the success of 3M (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Biogen May Find Advantages in Multiple Connections During Company Sale

Could a bidding war erupt for Biogen Idec? Carl Icahn and Pfizer are the top names rumored to be interested in a takeover, but now WSJ DealJournal and FT MergerMarket are reporting that some additional competition could quickly surface. We created IntellectSpace Knowledge Maps of Biogen’s ties to a couple of these potentially interested parties, namely Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline, and found a few notable connections that could work against Pfizer in pursuing a deal.

Experience Allows eBay to Build Impressive Run

Even after the 2000 dot com bust, what Internet company did not post a negative quarter from 1999 till Q3 2007? If you said eBay, sold! eBay had its first negative quarter in eight years, primarily as a result of its overvalued purchase of Internet-phone company Skype (see article from Bloggingstocks.com).  Despite this however, eBay seems excited about the planned reorganization of Skype. Given eBay’s long success rate, we decided to create an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of the Board of Directors’ corporate ties at eBay so that we might “visualize” their experience (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Security and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

The Directors at eBay also hold directorships at well-known companies such as Ford Motors, Adobe, Dreamworks, Proctor and Gamble, and Jamba Juice. Leadership gained through non-corporate organizations include the Harvard Business School Foundation, Tufts University, the Salvation Army, the World Economic Forum, the National Football League, the Henry Ford Museum, and Smith College.

With this collective experience and proven track record, eBay should have little trouble restructuring Skype into an extremely profitable unit within eBay.

Click here for an interactive version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map (Internet Explorer browsers only): http://nv.intellectspace.com/ispace/GuestMonitor.aspx?id=cfd011b0-ac8d-4159-ad36-7062447552ce

Airlines Benefit from Experienced Management

With surging oil prices and increasing customer dissatisfaction with service, does the future look bright for the airline industry? The answer seems to be “yes”. Southwest Airlines Inc and Continental Airlines Inc both reported Q3 net-income growth, with traffic increasing even as the companies raised costs to offset high fuel prices (see article from The Wall Street Journal). The airline industry has been in a slump for several years now, first from the devastating affect of Sept. 11th coupled with rising fuel costs and the ever-weakening dollar. However, the results from Q3 have been fairly positive. Both Delta Airlines and Northwest Corp successfully emerged from bankruptcy, with even talks of a possible merger between the two. Delta and Northwest both reported profits earlier this week. Airlines appear to be doing well despite so many adverse conditions. We created two IntellectSpace Knowledge Maps of the corporate ties of the Boards of Directors at Southwest and Continental in order to “visualize” their experience (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

AT&T and DirecTV Share Strong Ties Amid Talk of a Takeover

In the latest twist regarding the buzz behind AT&T’s potential purchase of Echostar Communications, some analysts are saying that just as likely is a takeover on the part of AT&T for DirecTV, which was also rumored to have had an interest in Echostar (See article from WSJ DealJournal). On Tuesday we created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of AT&T’s ties to Echostar and found some notable common connections that could influence a deal (see article from NewsVisual). This Knowledge Map created today reveals the close connections that AT&T shares with its other buyout interest, DirecTV. The links could offer AT&T a few distinct advantages if it decides to pursue a takeover.

Experience Pays Off for Yahoo!

Is one hundred days all you need to turn a company around? Jerry Yang would say "yes". Shares of Yahoo! jumped today after the Internet giant turned in better-than-expected Q3 results. This comes after CEO Jerry Yang initiated a 100-day long effort to formulate a reorganization plan for Yahoo!, which has been losing much of its online advertising and searching business to Google (see article from MarketWatch.com). The Q3 results indicate that at least some of the plans put in place by the Board of Directors seemed to have work. To get an idea of the experience of the Directors, we created this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of their corporate ties (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Security and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

The Directors at Yahoo! hold directorships at notable companies such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Morgan Stanley, Northwest Airlines, Network Appliance, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Cisco Systems, and ActiVision. The experience gained from these directorships, in industries ranging from fashion to finance to airline to hospitality, could indicate that the Directors have a several creative ideas on how to restructure Yahoo!.