Yahoo! board re-elected

Yahoo! chief executive Jerry Yang was re-elected at the internet giants annual meeting on Friday (August 1), as investors threw their weight behind him and the rest of the board. Each Yahoo! board nominee has been re-elected.

Yahoo! chief executive Jerry Yang (pictured) was re-elected at the internet giant’s annual meeting on Friday (August 1), as investors threw their weight behind him and the rest of the board. Each Yahoo! board nominee has been re-elected.

The news comes despite investors’ anger over Yang’s decision to snub Microsoft’s $48bn (£24bn) offer for Yahoo! The chief executive received 85% of shareholders votes cast.

Yang, who co-founded the company in 1995 with fellow Stanford student David Filo, took over the chief executive’s role after Terry Semel left the company last summer.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who had launched a vicious attack on the Yahoo! board for not taking up Microsoft’s offer, has also been elected to the board.

He also had talks with Microsoft over an attempt to oust the Yahoo! board. He subsequently settled the spat with Yahoo! over the make up of the internet company’s board, ending any hope Microsoft had of acquiring the Yahoo! search business.

The deal Yahoo! brokered with Carl Icahn means that the board will now be expanded from nine to 11 members. The remaining two seats will be filled following recommendations sent by Icahn to the board’s nominating and governance committee.