Yahoo Rejects Call To Set Public Sale Price

June 6, 2008 2:12 p.m. EST

Sunnyvale, CA (AHN) - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn offered Yahoo more unsolicited advice: set a public sale price of $49.5 billion, or $34.375 per share. In a letter, the Internet company said declaring a sales price was "ill-advised."

The figure suggested by Icahn would be $2 billion more than the amount Microsoft offered in May. The software giant had offered $47.5 billion, or $33 per share before breaking off negotiations. Yahoo co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang had held out for $37 per share.

Earlier this week, Icahn said Yahoo should have renounced an employee retention plan that would have added to Microsoft's take-over costs. The activist investor is expected to present his candidates for Yahoo's board of directors when the Internet company meets Aug 1.