THE SHY AND RETIRING CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, has told the world+dog that there is no way on God's green earth that he is paying anything more than he has offered for that search engine outfit Yahoo!

Ballmer said that $44 billion for a search engine with Yahoo's mileage was more than enough. He knew what Yahoo was worth and he would not pay a cent more.

Speaking in Milan, he said that $44 billion was a lot of dosh and Microsoft will not raise its bid. He added he was prepared to boldly go into the search engine world without Yahoo if the bid does not succeed.

Yahoo has hinted that, if Steve quietly ups his bid from the current $31 per share, it's board might just think about it. However, as Ballmer pointed out the company was only worth $20 per share before Vole stuck its bid in. µ

L'Inq
AP