An Evil Empire in the Making – Microsoft and News Corp Propose to Join Forces
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Yahoo and AOL are pursuing a deal to fold AOL into Yahoo! The deal would require Time-Warner, in addition to the merger of internet operations, to make a cash purchase equivalent to 20% of the combined entity. This would make the entire deal worth more than Microsoft’s current offer. Of course, it could be AOL that needs this deal more than Yahoo, as it has languished for years since the merger with Time-Warner. That was followed the Netscape debacle where Jason Calacanis drove one of the internet’s major destinations right into the ground by attempting to clone DIGG.com with the added disability of editors.
The frightening aspect is not the Yahoo! deal, but is Microsoft’s reaction. Microsoft is in very serious discussions with News Corp – parent of Fox News – to buy Yahoo at a premium to the previous Microsoft offer. If that deal goes through and the Yahoo acquisition is successful – there will be a merger of My Space, MSN, and Yahoo. That is quite a behemoth internet presence. Of course, it also creates a three-headed hydra that may be unmanageable. On top of that, there would be a tremendous clash of cultures that the United States hasn’t seen since the North defeated the South. It also indicates that Microsoft is not confident that its previous offer will win the day and is attempting to hedge its bets.
I suppose not only will the news “fair and balance” but will be delivered with “fear, uncertainty, and doom.”
See previous stories about Yahoo’s public response to Steve Ballmer’s nastygram.
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