Will Carl Icahn crash Yahoo?

In explaining Carl Icahn's raid on Yahoo, pundits bring up his efforts to shake up tech and media giants like Motorola and Time Warner. But I think there's a better analogy in Icahn's past: TWA. Icahn's attempt to gain a board seat or broker a new deal to sell Yahoo to Microsoft will not send Yahoo soaring; if left unchecked, he will run Yahoo into the ground as surely as he did that troubled airline. Icahn's bid, and the support it is drawing from large Yahoo investors, seems premised on the notion that he can bring Microsoft and Yahoo back to the bargaining table. That seems unlikely. More »

Time Warner CEO next AOL layoff victim?

Add one more to the AOL body count. At AOL's parent company, Time Warner, CEO Richard Parsons will soon resign, according to reports of a board meeting in London last week. But we all know it's not official till there's a drunken layoff-victim email. The axe drops after Parsons led Time Warner through five years of stagnant growth. His problem, according to some, was a sentimental attachment to the failed AOL-Time Warner union. Parsons's reported replacement, current Time Warner president Jeff Bewkes is not considered so sentimental. His ascension would increase the likelihood of an AOL spinoff or sale. We say Parsons isn't allowed to go till he makes his own French music video. (Photo by AP/Stephen J. Carrera)