Tristan O'Carroll, Media Week, 04 August 2008, 2:55pm

Yahoo investors back board at AGM

LONDON - Yahoo's investors have put their backing behind the company's embattled board, with 85% of votes at its AGM supporting chief executive Jerry Yang.

The other Yahoo board directors each received at least 77% of the votes cast.

The shareholder support will come as a major boost to Yahoo. In recent months, the company has faced down several takeover attempts from Microsoft and has had to hand rebel investor Carl Icahn three seats on its board.

Icahn, famed for forcing major corporations into strategy shifts, had spent millions of dollars building a 5% stake in Yahoo - a bid aimed at persuading other shareholders to replace Yahoo's board with executives open to a sale to Microsoft.

Yang, who co-founded the company in 1995, said that Yahoo's internet advertising strategy was on the verge of paying off.

Yang said: "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.

He added: "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."