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Verizon Executive Says Company Unsure About Yahoo Deal (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on from the not-sure dept.

A senior executive of Verizon said on Thursday the company was unsure about its planned acquisition of Yahoo's internet business. From a report on Reuters: "I can't sit here today and say with confidence one way or another because we still don't know," Marni Walden, president of product innovation and new businesses, said at the Citi 2017 Internet, Media & Telecommunications Conference in Las Vegas.To walk away, Verizon likely will have to show the overall value of Yahoo has declined as a result of the two hacking disclosures. "I have to have certain facts in order to be able to make a decision," she told WSJ. "There's a lot of stuff we don't know."

44 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. Security is just a cost with no upside? by whoever57 · · Score: 1

    What's that you say? Our bad security has cost us a billion dollars?

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    1. Re:Security is just a cost with no upside? by HornWumpus · · Score: 2

      It's already cost a billion $ in lower offer. It might still cost them the rest.

      I think this is a very good thing. A company needs to be made an example of, Yahoo can disappear and nothing of value will be lost.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    2. Re: Security is just a cost with no upside? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Get a new job while you still have one. Yahoo is not yet the resume stain it should be.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    3. Re: Security is just a cost with no upside? by houstonbofh · · Score: 1

      Why should we think of their workers when they did not?

    4. Re: Security is just a cost with no upside? by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      Fuck you bud. People still work there, some with no choice due to visas. Go to hell.

      Okay then, f*** the millions of people that had their identity exposed by Yahoo's lame security practices. Right?

      If it's cheaper to have lax security and let breaches happen, companies will do that. The only way they'll stop is when it it's cheaper to have good security. The *only* thing a corporation understands is money.

    5. Re: Security is just a cost with no upside? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Only if you live a bad life and the universe punishes you by moving you down (according to karma theory; 'dot indian' beliefs).

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  2. Run, don't walk. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "To walk away, Verizon likely will have to show the overall value of Yahoo has declined as a result of the two hacking disclosures."

    Just buy their user database from the hackers and cut out the middleman, right?

    1. Re:Run, don't walk. by sexconker · · Score: 2

      Yup. Verizon is only interested in the buyout for the user data. That user data is available for a song now on the "dark web", and advertisers who are interested in it already have a copy.

  3. How do you go below zero? by Fire_Wraith · · Score: 1

    According to a number of reports, Yahoo's core business is valued at less than nothing, so I'm hard pressed to imagine how Verizon can prove they're even more worthless than that: http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/21...

    1. Re:How do you go below zero? by HornWumpus · · Score: 2

      The key question is: How much are the Alibaba holdings really worth.

      China says you can't sell them, marking them to the Shanghai market is fiction.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    2. Re:How do you go below zero? by EndlessNameless · · Score: 2

      Verizon can't just roll with some smartass reporter's comments about the drop in value.

      They have to be prepared to prove it in court if they back out of the agreement.

      I'm fairly sure that Yahoo is worthless as a tech company, but the contract probably has a lot of conditions and stipulations in it. This isn't like returning a TV to Best Buy when it doesn't work the way you thought it would.

      --

      ---
      According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
    3. Re:How do you go below zero? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      If Verizon can show 'bad faith' on Yahoo's part regarding disclosure of known hacks/data breaches, they are out of the deal for a lawyer bill the will likely be 1% of the losses they avoid. Which is still a big old shyster bill.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    4. Re:How do you go below zero? by HornWumpus · · Score: 2

      The deal hasn't closed. We'll see what they get in the end.

      If you make an offer on a house, enter escrow, then learn the house has termites (the owner knew it and didn't disclose) the offer becomes, more or less, meaningless. Depending on the state you live in and the contingencies you wrote into the offer.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    5. Re:How do you go below zero? by DarkOx · · Score: 1

      That is because it impacts the material value or use of the asset. If for example you take a later walkthru after making an offer and go, you know I did not realize that wallpaper upstairs was blue, It looked green in the afternoon light the other day. You would find yourself threatened with breach of contract.

      I am incline to argue in the case of yahoo here that security isn't important! Really how many users are going to leave Y-mail because of the breaches? How many are going to stop using yahoo.com as their homepage? Probably some number damn near zero. Yahoo has not been interesting in more than decade. The people who are still there are either fiercely loyal, profoundly ignorant, or literally incapable of going anywhere else for some reason. In short his user base is the kind that gives markets wet dreams! Yahoo isn't worth any less than it was before the breaches. Don't get me wrong I wish it were not true but the reality is that is the state of things with a the band of users they attract.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    6. Re:How do you go below zero? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      You have to deeply discount anything traded on Shanghai. Chinese market rules say you can't sell your holdings unless they are tiny.

      Somebody should set up an alternate market for Shanghai traded stocks, after hours, outside China. Think of the arbitrage opportunities.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    7. Re:How do you go below zero? by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      If you make an offer on a house, enter escrow, then learn the house has termites (the owner knew it and didn't disclose) the offer becomes, more or less, meaningless. Depending on the state you live in and the contingencies you wrote into the offer.

      IANAL, but I'm pretty sure buying a house and buying a corporation have different legal terms. But nice analogy anyhow.

    8. Re:How do you go below zero? by lgw · · Score: 1

      This, of course, exists. It wasn't reasonable to set up until China allowed direct outsider ownership of Chinese stocks, which was a recent change, but arbitrage opportunities are rarely missed. More practically, there are some useful ETFs that trade on US exchanges in US hours. E.g., I use CQQQ to get exposure to companies like Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu. Whether that's a smart investment is a different question, but it's a very practical one.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    9. Re:How do you go below zero? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Could Yahoo dump their Alibaba holdings on those markets (giving the 'may you have many sons' gesture to the Chinese regulators)? Obviously any such large sale would move the market. I'm thinking the volumes would be far too thin to be practical.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    10. Re:How do you go below zero? by lgw · · Score: 1

      Nope: the total stock held by these special markets is a small percentage of the total stock. No way to sell 20% of a company that way.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  4. Not hand-wavey dollars by Aaden42 · · Score: 1

    This might be a neat case to finally establish real hard money lost to lousy security. Not hand-wavey lost time & estimated fraud and other made up^W^W statistically supported dollars, but no-shit, we really lost this many millions because we screwed up. Put that in your spreadsheet & smoke it...

  5. Make the deal by frovingslosh · · Score: 1

    I'm usually opposed to any industry mergers, but in this case I can say with confidence that Verizon deserves Yahoo.

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    1. Re:Make the deal by DickBreath · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I wish a few years ago that Microsoft had gone through with blowing its wad (about 41 billiion) on Yahoo. It would have de-fanged Microsoft quite a bit. Been one more glorious achievement of Ballmer. Also both the technical clash and culture clash between the two would have provided years of entertaining watching.

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    2. Re:Make the deal by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      The difference in value between MS's offer, Verizon's initial offer, Verizon's current offer and the nickel they eventually get for the shithole will serve as a lesson to all the world's MBAs.

      It has to happen, now is good.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  6. Re:Still think female CEO's are cool, kids? by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Looks more like self loathing liberals who can't really afford to come out of the closet and making shit up to sound "Republican". I mean, after all Trump is a Racist, Bigot, Homophobe, but the four Chicago assholes torturing a guy with mental deficiencies is ... a non-story. He deserved it being "white" and because Trump is a racist.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  7. Re:Monkeyshit Corp by DickBreath · · Score: 1

    Ugh!!! Both spelling AND grammar.

    Try "bigfully" rather than "bigly" next time.

    --

    I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
  8. Yahoo is dead by howlingmad · · Score: 1

    Let it rest in peace.

  9. Re:Still think female CEO's are cool, kids? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Informative

    [...] but the four Chicago assholes torturing a guy with mental deficiencies is ... a non-story.

    That's funny. I found your "non-story" on the front page of the NY Times website.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/04/us/chicago-racially-charged-attack-video.html

  10. Re: Still think female CEO's are cool, kids? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Republicans don't have homos [...]

    *cough* Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) *cough*

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Craig_scandal

  11. What if we brought Marissa back? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    Verizon: Fuck this, we're out.
    Yahoo: Even if we brought Carly...er...I mean Marissa back to run the division?

    1. Re:What if we brought Marissa back? by DarkOx · · Score: 1

      Verizon: Will Marissa provide "lattes" to our current board of directors?

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
  12. Re:Monkeyshit Corp by ScienceofSpock · · Score: 1

    ALL words are made up.

  13. Re:Still think female CEO's are cool, kids? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Most CEOs are shit that don't really do anything to justify their ridiculous salaries.

    She inherited a sinking ship, and it continued sinking under her watch.

    She fits right in and proves that women are on the same level as men.

  14. Re: Still think female CEO's are cool, kids? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    The party of moral values alright.

    Especially when it comes to restrooms.

  15. Re:Still think female CEO's are cool, kids? by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

    I just looked at the www.nytimes.com and found the article linked on the front page, not actually ON the front page. Here is the whole tidbit as it appears on the Front Page of the NY TIMES website ... as of 11:25 PST.

    The Chicago police questioned four black people after a video circulated of a white teenager who was tied up and beaten by a group shouting anti-white messages

    Yeah, it is a "non-story" buried so far down the page (and off to the side) that it is being covered, but as minimally as possible.

    I am not going to change your opinion, I realize that.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  16. Re:Monkeyshit Corp by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

    ALL words are made up.

    Right! Common use comes from social agreemification.
    Then the people that create dictionaries have to play catch-up.

    --
    You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  17. Re:Still think female CEO's are cool, kids? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Yeah, it is a "non-story" buried so far down the page (and off to the side) that it is being covered, but as minimally as possible.

    It's yesterday's news... You expect it to be on the front page forever?

    I am not going to change your opinion, I realize that.

    I realize that everyone want their biases and prejudices to make the front page, but that's now how journalism works. If it bleeds, it leads. Yesterday's beating isn't bleeding today.

  18. Re:Still think female CEO's are cool, kids? by Motherfucking+Shit · · Score: 1

    I mean, after all Trump is a Racist, Bigot, Homophobe, but the four Chicago assholes torturing a guy with mental deficiencies is ... a non-story.

    What? It was on both NBC and CBS national news broadcasts last night. I'm positive without even looking that it was on FOX News. At this moment, it's the prominent top story on CNN ("Hate Crime Charges. 4 charged for Facebook Live torture of special-needs teen"), the #2 story on NBCNews.com ("Teens in Facebook Torture Video Face Hate Crime Charges") and above the fold on CBSNews.com ("Hate crime charges in attack live-streamed on Facebook. Four black suspects are in custody in the attack on a mentally disabled white teen from suburban Chicago"). If this is your idea of a non-story, you should take your blinders off.

    --
    "BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
  19. Re:Monkeyshit Corp by lgw · · Score: 1

    Bah, these neologisms. "... its suckfullness was embiggened and enstrongulated by ... " The traditional words just sound better.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  20. Re:Still think female CEO's are cool, kids? by lgw · · Score: 1

    But....but.....her magic vagina was supposed to solve all our problems. The liberals PROMISED!

    Hey, now, She drove Yahoo into the ground just as efficiently and dramatically as any male CEO could have! She also vacuumed up huge amounts (bigly!) of investor money. Truly, as competent as any male CEO. What did you imagine the skill set of a CEO was?

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  21. Enpostifacted Typiddling. by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

    Stop misfancifying things. I find it all too condrumical.

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  22. Re:Still think female CEO's are cool, kids? by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

    Top Story .. "RUSSIANS HACKED THE ELECTION" proves this point completely false. Care to try again?

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  23. Re:Still think female CEO's are cool, kids? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Your "non-story" is on the front page again, as a new story for today and the link to yesterday's story.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/05/us/chicago-racially-charged-attack-video.html

  24. If Verizon is smart.... by erp_consultant · · Score: 1

    and I know it's a Telco, but work with me here...they will run, not walk, away from this deal. Yahoo had very little to offer even before the security debacle. At this point I would value Yahoo as something akin to a few practice jerseys and a bucket of pucks. In other words, practically nothing.

    I don't really care either way but the thought of that devious bitch of a CEO making off with millions after hiding the security hackings from their customers, not to mention Verizon, makes me ill.

  25. Re:Still think female CEO's are cool, kids? by hambone142 · · Score: 1

    Time to anoint Marissa with another raise for "doing such a great job".