The business stories that matter, by Fortune's Colin Barr
Type Size  -  +
May 15, 2008, 2:47 pm

Update: Subprime ace backs Icahn in Yahoo fight

Carl Icahn isn’t the only big-name investor taking a big stake in Yahoo (YHOO). Paulson & Co., the hedge fund run that made a killing last year betting against subprime mortgage securities, bought 50 million Yahoo shares in the first quarter, which ended March 31, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows. John Paulson, the manager who made $3.7 billion last year on his timely subprime wager, made the big Yahoo purchase during a quarter in which Yahoo fielded an unsolicited bid from Microsoft (MSFT). Microsoft has since walked away from that deal, but Icahn is leading a proxy fight against Yahoo’s board, perhaps in hopes of turning up the heat for renewed deal talks. If he succeeds, Paulson stands to make a few more bucks.

Update: Paulson will support Icahn’s effort to unseat the Yahoo board, Bloomberg reports. “We intend to support the Icahn slate but sincerely hope that Yahoo will negotiate an agreement with Microsoft, thereby making a proxy fight unnecessary,” Paulson said in a statement emailed to Bloomberg. “We were disappointed that Yahoo failed to reach an agreement with Microsoft.”

CNNMoney.com Comment Policy: CNNMoney.com encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. Please note that CNNMoney.com may edit comments for clarity or to keep out questionable or off-topic material. All comments should be relevant to the post and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. By submitting your comment, you hereby give CNNMoney.com the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying information via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. CNNMoney.com Privacy Statement.
Colin Barr covers business and finance for Fortune.com. Previously he was an editor at TheStreet.com and author of the weekly Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street column, and an editor at Dow Jones Newswires.
Subscribe to Daily Briefing: RSS feed | email newsletter
* : Time reflects local markets trading time.† - Intraday data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges.• Disclaimer
Powered by WordPress.com.