Yahoo Board Gains Support From Legg Mason

New York, NY (AHN) - Yahoo has gained new support in its battle with Carl Icahn over the control of the Internet company. Legg Mason, which owns 4.4 percent of Yahoo, said Friday it would vote to retain Yahoo's current leaders at an Aug. 1 annual company meeting.

In a statement, Bill Miller, chairman and investment head of Legg Mason Capital Management, explained Yahoo "acted with care and diligence" regarding Microsoft's repeated offers to first acquire all of the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company and then just its search business.

Icahn, a billionaire activist investor in Yahoo, argues the company was wrong to turn down the Microsoft bids and will offer his own slate of candidates at the upcoming board of directors election.

Although Legg Mason still supports Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, the investment firm said the Internet company and Icahn should agree on the composition of the board. Icahn has said Microsoft would be willing to submit a new offer if Yahoo leadership changed. Yang has said Icahn is interested only in short-term profits and not the value of the company.