Yahoo Board Members Could Be Endangered by Carl Icahn Proxy Fight to Oust Them

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace) -- Although the withdrawal of Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) from the scene might have been greeted by many at Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) with a sigh of relief, the turmoil for Yahoo’s Directors could be at just its beginning point as a late-breaking business-news story suggests.

"Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has amassed a stake in Yahoo Inc. and is leaning toward launching a proxy contest to unseat at least part of Yahoo's board, according to one person familiar with the situation," The Wall Street Journal reported in an online article late Tuesday afternoon.

"The person said that Mr. Icahn was unsure whether he would nominate a full or partial slate of candidates to try to replace Yahoo's 10-person board," The Journal added.

If Mr. Icahn does decide to wage a proxy war, he’s unlikely to find the current crop of Yahoo Directors to be an acquiescent or pusillanimous bunch whom Icahn can count on to turn tail as soon as they are confronted with brass-knuckle tactics.  After all, these guys just withstood a frontal assault from Microsoft.

In addition to that, several of Yahoo’s Directors have endured tough fights in other corporate battles.

NewsVisual created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of Yahoo’s Board of Directors that illustrates their business connections.

For example, the Knowledge Map shows that Yahoo Chairman Roy J. Bostock also currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Northwest Airlines Corp and as a Director for Morgan Stanley.

Given the fact that Northwest recently merged with Delta, it’s obvious that Mr. Bostock is no novice when it comes to being experienced with high-stake corporate deals, meaning that his judgment cannot be easily dismissed, especially since his experience with Morgan Stanley would give him keen financial insights as well.

Click here for a fuller and an interactive version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map that illustrates the business connections of Yahoo’s 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).