4 ms·

They're going to kill Yahoo because some rich assholes don't want to pay their taxes.

• atom_enger 11y ago
  Can you elaborate on what you mean by this?
  • guelo 11y ago
    Yahoo is profitable. But it's not more profitable than the amount that shareholders think they can save by executing a convoluted plan to avoid paying taxes on the gains from the Alibaba shares that Yahoo owns. The convoluted plan involves getting rid of the Yahoo business by either selling it or killing it if need be.
• tomp 11y ago
  No, they're going to kill Yahoo because it deserves to die; a company not making money doesn't really have a reason for existence, does it? (Or it should become a charity instead.)
  • cscurmudgeon 11y ago
    Umm no. Yahoo still makes a lot of money.
  • jpetso 11y ago
    I think there is some value in providing jobs to 10,000 people (currently more, soon a little less) even if there's no extra profit for shareholders on top of that. Maybe these kinds of companies should just be given to employees for free and run as a co-op instead of getting shut down.
    • adevine 11y ago
      Wut? There are charities, and there are businesses. If you expect Yahoo to be run as a charity, why should Yahoo's owners be the ones who must provide this? Put it another way. Let's say you had 100k that you were able to invest in your own startup. After a number of years, you found that you could support 5 employees at your startup, but you weren't, and had no hope of, being profitable - there was no "extra profit" for you. Would you be willing to just turn over your investment as charity to your employees?
      • TallGuyShort 11y ago
        I agree a business is not a charity, but if there is no hope of a return on your investment, what value is there in doing literally anything else with it? There's is definitely value in making it possible for thousands of people to keep food on the table for their families and pay the mortgage and continue providing services to existing users.
        • gnaritas 11y ago
          Opportunity cost. Better to extract the capital and chase another investment. Liquidate the pig.
    • stvswn 11y ago
      Ha. This is precious.
    • tomp 11y ago
      > I think there is some value in providing jobs to 10,000 people Sure there is, but it's not the purpose of companies to provide that, but should be done by the society (government) if the society decides there's value in that.
      • jpetso 11y ago
        > Sure there is, but it's not the purpose of companies to provide that, but should be done by the society (government) if the society decides there's value in that. I like how this contrasts really nicely with a different view, where the ideal state of society is small government that leaves everything to the market, often mentioned in the same breath with keeping taxes as low as possible. I think the whole basic income thing is interesting, but unless/until that's implemented, a society that mainly relies on companies to power and own the country should also demand from companies to ensure that people are doing well. Anyway that's going off-topic, my initial point was only that the default move for companies without sizeable profits or losses doesn't have to be to wind them down. I care less whether you call the result a charity, a non-profit or something done by the government.
  • lmm 11y ago
    Yahoo's core business breaks even. If they would write down their setup capital and shift into "maintenance mode" (which probably involves layoffs, sure) they could generate modest dividends more-or-less indefinitely. Instead they're diving headlong into a downward spiral that can only end in being bought or declaring bankruptcy, and they'll destroy good, potentially-modestly-profitable products in the process of chasing that big hail mary.
  • CryoLogic 11y ago
    By the logic in this thread, Microsoft also needs to die. IBM, HP and Dell too. All companies who haven't been innovative, but rather coming in second to existing markets and doing a mediocre job. Turns out second place still pays the bills, and takes much less risk than trying something new. That's Yahoo's core strategy.
• jonknee 11y ago
  On the other hand, Yahoo is already dead and has only been kept alive by that Alibaba stake. Taxes or not, it's the only thing keeping the lights on.
  • guelo 11y ago
    Yahoo is profitable.
    • jonknee 11y ago
      Their operating income has been negative for the first three quarters of 2015 (the 4th quarter numbers come out tomorrow). They could turn the lights off in California and make more money than they do today.
      • guelo 11y ago
        Not by much, they're basically breaking even.