Yahoo-Microsoft Endgame?

I blogged about the Yahoo-Microsoft soap opera when it first began. I expected it to end pretty quickly, with Yahoo realizing they couldn’t go it alone anymore.

Since then, rumors have swirled and now the plot is as thick as mud. News Corp has gone from savior to Microsoft conspirator, and Google is still lurking, messing up the whole deal.

Well color me surprised. Marketwatch’s Therese Poletti compared this whole twisted tale to the one Oracle and PeopleSoft wrote a few years ago. Having lived through that one, I can tell you, this type of corporate battle sucks employee morale out the windows.

I can’t imagine that Yahoo and Microsoft have the deep-rooted history of acrimonious competition that Oracle and PeopleSoft had. Note: we’re one happy family now, just look at the ‘Lab.

I also can’t imagine how Yahoo executives want this to end. Do they want more money? That looks unlikely, especially with Microsoft suggesting recently that they may lower the offer. Yahoo’s shareholder may be discontent enough to go against the executive anyway, especially with Microsoft playing hardball.

I just don’t get what jerry Yang and company are doing. Sure, I understand they wanted more money, but now that no white knights have ridden to save the day and less money looks more likely, why persist?

So what do you think will happen? Can you shed some light on what’s going on in the heads of Yahoo’s executives? If you were a shareholder, what would you want Yahoo to do?