Rupert Murdoch Not Interested In Yahoo

Sun Valley, ID (AHN) - Media mogul Rupert Murdoch said his News Corp. firm is not interested in acquiring Yahoo. "We're not interested in Yahoo," he said in a news conference Saturday.

According to sources cited by news reports, News Corp. and Yahoo were in talks to partner together in blocking an unsolicited takeover offer from Microsoft.

Murdoch downplayed the reports saying that he doesn't see Yahoo winding up in a deal with Microsoft Corp. "Microsoft will probably fail in any attempt to buy Yahoo. There won't be a deal. In six months, Microsoft will walk away," he said.

Microsoft, however, may consider bidding again if shareholders support Carl Icahn in ousting Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang.

Murdoch revealed that Gordon Crawford of Capital Research Global Investors, Yahoo's largest shareholder, is disappointed as he couldn't sell his shares at Microsoft's offer of $33 a share. He added that Crawford would have divested at that value "in a flash."

Murdoch's revelations came after he spoke with Crawford in the lobby of the Sun Valley Lodge, according to Bloomberg.

In May, Yahoo turned down Microsoft's unsolicited $47.5 billion buyout bid. Yang demanded $37 per share.

Microsoft attempted to team up with Time Warner Inc. and News Corp. to come up with a bid to spin off Yahoo's search business and possibly merge News Corp.'s MySpace site with Yahoo. Time Warner, on the other hand, is on the lookout for a buyer for AOL.