5 ms·

Can anyone explain to me why Yahoo is not worth over $4B?

estefan 10y ago
No one wants to pay over $4B for it.
iaw 10y ago
Sure thing! Imagine if I had two friends, Google and Yahoo. Both are asking me if they can borrow a dollar. Over the last few years when Google borrows a dollar it gives back an extra 3.5 cents the next year as a thank you. On the opposite side, when Yahoo has borrowed a dollar they've lost 13 cents within the next year. Left to their own devices, Yahoo will implode and be out of money in under 7 years, likely much sooner. The $4 billion price tag was a way of salvaging what may still be valuable properties within Yahoo, but the company on paper is rapidly losing money at any valuation. It's like asking someone to buy a car that's broken when it's unclear if they can fix it.
- rokhayakebe 10y ago
  Halve staff?
  - sangnoir 10y ago
    in all likelihood, you'll be left with the worse half, who will be demoralized as a bonus. Now you are even less likely to fix it. The surest way would be to strip it for parts.
  - jlebrech 10y ago
    or skeleton crew and only make $100m profit for 10years before they finally die off.
bkeroack 10y ago
Reposting because this series of articles is by far the best explanation of the Yahoo situation over the past year or two: http://origin-www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-12-02/yahoo-is-looking-for-a-new-way-around-alibaba-taxes http://origin-www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-12-02/yaho...
TaylorGood 10y ago
This: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13180033 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13180033 and this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13182120 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13182120
audi100quattro 10y ago
The costs to run it are too high and haven't or can't be reduced. Granted, the demographics Yahoo can target and Yahoo's share of internet advertising aren't the most appealing, they did buy Flurry and others which were doing fine monetizing small shares of ad revenue. Also, at this point, under-investing in security never pays.

No one wants to pay over $4B for it.

iaw 10y ago

Sure thing! Imagine if I had two friends, Google and Yahoo. Both are asking me if they can borrow a dollar. Over the last few years when Google borrows a dollar it gives back an extra 3.5 cents the next year as a thank you. On the opposite side, when Yahoo has borrowed a dollar they've lost 13 cents within the next year. Left to their own devices, Yahoo will implode and be out of money in under 7 years, likely much sooner. The $4 billion price tag was a way of salvaging what may still be valuable properties within Yahoo, but the company on paper is rapidly losing money at any valuation. It's like asking someone to buy a car that's broken when it's unclear if they can fix it.

rokhayakebe 10y ago
Halve staff?
- sangnoir 10y ago
  in all likelihood, you'll be left with the worse half, who will be demoralized as a bonus. Now you are even less likely to fix it. The surest way would be to strip it for parts.
- jlebrech 10y ago
  or skeleton crew and only make $100m profit for 10years before they finally die off.

bkeroack 10y ago

Reposting because this series of articles is by far the best explanation of the Yahoo situation over the past year or two: http://origin-www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-12-02/yahoo-is-looking-for-a-new-way-around-alibaba-taxes http://origin-www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-12-02/yaho...

TaylorGood 10y ago

This: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13180033 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13180033 and this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13182120 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13182120

audi100quattro 10y ago

The costs to run it are too high and haven't or can't be reduced. Granted, the demographics Yahoo can target and Yahoo's share of internet advertising aren't the most appealing, they did buy Flurry and others which were doing fine monetizing small shares of ad revenue. Also, at this point, under-investing in security never pays.