Carl Icahn's very public proxy battle with Yahoo has finally yielded a result: if he wins the battle by vote, the $2.4b severance plan Yahoo put together as a blowfish defense against Microsoft will be activated. This is what we call a lose-lose-lose...-lose.
1) Yahoo loses because if and when Microsoft decides to step in when Yahoo's stock is sitting in the toilet, it'll have even more reason to cut its number due to the higher cost of the plan.
2) Carl loses because he started this battle hoping for a low 30's takeover price, which won't happen for a whole list of reasons (tacking this one onto that list).
3) Microsoft loses because its now looking at an even more bloated target to swallow.
4) The shareholders lose because now tired executives who are fed up with this whole mess have incentive to leave it all behind (at a huge cost to the shareholders), and plenty of wiggle room too (citing "good reasons" is sufficient for resignation + severance).
At least you still have those cool shades, Carl.
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