Bill Miller, a portfolio manager at Legg Mason (and one of Yahoo's largest shareholders) says Steve Ballmer "blundered" when he delivered an ultimatum to Yahoo on Saturday. (Ballmerthreatened to launch a proxy battle with Yahoo if a deal doesn't close in three weeks' time.)
"To me, bumping the number up a buck [from $31 a share], that would have a big impact psychologically on shareholders." Miller (right) told the Wall Street Journal.
Psychologically? How about financially? Legg Mason owns about 83.8 million shares of Yahoo, worth close to $2 billion, so a buck per share means a lot to the fund. Psychologically, it also might be comforting to Miller, who may be smarting from a rotten first quarter -- Miller's Legg Mason Value Trust fund posted the largest first-quarter drop since it opened 26 years ago.
Photo: Courtesy Legg Mason
See Also:
- What's Next for Microsoft-Yahoo?
- Microsoft, Yahoo Reach Impasse
- Shareholders Want Microsoft-Yahoo Deal Done -- Pronto
- Running the Numbers on a Possible Yahoo/Microsoft Merger
- Microsoft Threatens to Go Hostile on Yahoo
- Yahoo to Microsoft: Get Out of Our Grill
- Microsoft-Yahoo: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid, Google Says
