Yahoo might not be for sale

ONE-TIME IMPORTANT INTERNET FIRM Yahoo might not be up for sale, according to its co-founder Jerry Yang.

Yang was commenting after the firm announced lacklustre results, and Steve Ballmer said that he was glad he did not buy the company.

According to Bloomberg Yang said that putting Yahoo up for sale is just one option, and that he and the board are discussing a few options.

"The intent going in is not to put ourselves up for sale," Yang said at the All Things Digital Asia conference in Hong Kong. "The intent is to look at all options. There's plenty of options for the board, and plenty of options for our shareholders to realize value."

So, plenty of options then.

Yesterday Yahoo announced a fall in profits of 26 per cent, nothing to be particularly proud about, yet the firm still managed to put a positive spion on its results.

"We're pleased that revenue, operating income and EPS were all above consensus this quarter," said Tim Morse, CFO and interim CEO of Yahoo.

Microsoft has always been the most likely buyer for Yahoo, and despite Steve Ballmer admitting that he was glad that Microsoft did not buy it, that was in 2008 and things have changed a little bit since then.

"Hallelujah...You know times change...sometimes you're lucky," he said when asked about the old deal. "Any chief executive who wanted to buy anything before the market collapsed in 2008 would be glad he didn't buy it." µ