No fireworks at Yahoo! meeting

Instead of providing a firework display, the most talked about shareholder meeting of the year turned out to be a damp squib Friday, as Yahoo! chief executive Jerry Yang and his board of directors won the overwhelming backing of investors.   ┬á All of Yahoo!ÔÇÖs nominees were reelected (although former board member Robert Kotick did not stand for reelection). Yang himself was voted back in by over 85 percent, with chairman Roy Bostock receiving an almost 80 percent mandate. ┬á┬á Some investors had criticized Yahoo!ÔÇÖs failure to agree a takeover deal with Microsoft, which had offered to buy the internet firm for $47.5 billion, or $33 a share, earlier this year. ┬á┬á Billionaire investor Carl Icahn had initially threatened to attempt to unseat the board at the shareholdersÔÇÖ meeting, but a compromise was reached two weeks ago with Icahn and two of his slate of alternative directors being offered seats on an expanded board. Icahn himself did not attend the meeting.┬á┬á Microsoft first offered to buy Yahoo in January and eventually walked away from negotiations in May after Yahoo rejected its improved offer. ┬á┬á Explaining the boardÔÇÖs handling of the negotiations with Microsoft, chairman Bostock said that Microsoft had never made its $33 a share offer in writing, calling it an ÔÇ£offhand commentÔÇØ that was never communicated explicitly to the board.┬á┬á "We now look forward to executing on our strategy and continuing to build our great company,ÔÇØ he said. ÔÇ£Last year, Yahoo!'s board of directors and management took steps to thoroughly reexamine the company's direction and to improve the company's performance. Since then Yahoo! has made significant strides in executing on its strategy, performing particularly well in light of the challenging circumstances of the past six months. Our board looks forward to continuing to work with management to maximize value for all stockholders." ┬á┬á "We are at a unique point in our history, where we have the eyes of the world focused on our company and tracking our performance,ÔÇØ said CEO Jerry Yang. ÔÇ£We are redoubling our commitment to driving sustained, profitable growth for our stockholders. The value inherent in Yahoo!'s unique collection of assets is truly extraordinary, and the progress we've made on our initiatives this year signals our ability to capitalize on the underlying potential of these assets." ┬á┬á A meeting of the board of directors was held immediately after the annual meeting, at which Carl Icahn was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Robert Kotick. The board also voted to expand from nine members to eleven and expects to name the two new members by August 15.  ┬á IcahnÔÇÖs presence on the board will surely affect the status quo, but it remains to be seen whether a deal with Microsoft can ever be rekindled.   Read┬áthe Yahoo! board's statement here.┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *