Major Yahoo investor touts board nominees

A hedge fund that is one of Yahoo's major investors is urging shareholders to elect its four nominees to the Internet company's board, launching a potentially nasty fight to transform its direction.

Hedge fund Third Point Llc, which has a 5.8 percent stake in Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo Inc., said it thinks the struggling company would fare better if its representatives were in the boardroom helping overhaul Yahoo.

Third Point's letter, released in a regulatory filing yesterday, comes a week after the hedge fund said it would launch a campaign to get its four nominees on the board if Yahoo's management didn't accept them.

The proposed directors are Daniel Loeb, the hedge fund's manager; former NBC Universal chief executive Jeff Zucker; former MTV Networks executive Michael Wolf and turnaround specialist Harry Wilson.

The company's board is in the midst of changes. Of the 11 directors, four, including chairman Roy Bostock, have said they will step down at Yahoo's annual meeting, usually held in June. The departures are part of an attempt to placate shareholders frustrated with a long-running financial funk that has depressed Yahoo's stock price.

The company also appointed two new directors to its board last month.

But Third Point's letter said that the appointed directors were not in the best interests of Yahoo and that the board still lacked expertise in the media and entertainment industries, as well as in corporate restructurings.

Yahoo shares added 10 cents to close at $15.51 yesterday. Shares have ranged from $11.09 to $18.84 in the past 12 months. -- AP