Jack Ma, CEO of Chinese Internet company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. says he’s very interested at the prospect of acquiring internet company Yahoo, Inc.
When speaking at Standford University on Friday Alibaba’s CEO told the audience that buying Yahoo has come up on several occasions as prospective buyers have visited with Ma. At this time Alibaba is not revealing who those prospective buyers might be.
Since firing Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz the company’s board of directors have come under fire to replace themselves or sell the company to a more competent management firm. In a late September email company founder Jerry Yang told employees that a possible acquisition would take at least several months to complete if a suitable buyer was revealed.
It should be noted that Yahoo owns a 40 percent stake in Alibaba and Ma in the past has made his disgust with much of the company’s management known, revealing at one point that he wanted to buy back the rest of his company from the one-time internet darling.
At this time however the search for a new CEO is still underway at Yahoo while Chief Financial Officer Time Morse plays the part of interim leader for the group.
Do you think Alibaba Group would make a good home for the content company? Given their complete lack of innovation and expansion during the Carol Bartz era I’m beginning to think that any new ownership that offers to buy the company would be a welcomed change for shareholders and Yahoo site users alike.
