“Our position hasn’t changed. Microsoft has no interest in acquiring Yahoo!; there are no discussions between the companies.”

Source: Microsoft PressPass

OK. Thanks.

We’re expecting Yahoo shares to dive even further now, and then a Microsoft offer a few days after that <g>.

But what is of interest to us, is how Steve Ballmer is now perceived over his decision to walk away when negotiations broke down. At the time we remember plenty of people (some even reputable <g>) carrying on about how Steve had lost the confidence of shareholders and board members, and may even have to be shown the door.

We wonder what those same punters would say now if Microsoft did have another go, and this time ended up buying Yahoo. With the Yahoo share price hovering around $12 (down from almost $30 around the time of the offer at the start of the year), Steve must look like a genius now that he didn’t pursue the acquisition.

And can you imagine the heat he’d be copping if he had ended up purchasing for $33 and saw the value drop to almost a third of that now.

Steve, we never doubted your decision.