Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is an American public corporation with headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, (in Silicon Valley), that provides services via the Internet worldwide. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine (Yahoo! Search), Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, advertising, online mapping (Yahoo! Maps), video sharing (Yahoo! Video), and social media websites and services.
Yahoo! was founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo in January 1994 and was incorporated on March 1, 1995. On January 13, 2009, Yahoo! appointed Carol Bartz, former executive chairperson of Autodesk, as its new chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors.
The shareholders, to be sure, will collect their payment, but Microsoft will most likely need to put together a package of financial incentives to prevent talented engineers and managers from hopping to other jobs in Silicon Valley.
The employee retention program could be expensive, perhaps costing billions of dollars, based on what Microsoft did when it acquired another technology company last year.
A look at that deal suggests the extent to which people are the vital assets at companies that mainly generate ideas that become software and Web services. The hidden cost of “flight insurance” against employee defections may also be a reason Microsoft has resisted raising its bid, which is now worth $42 billion.
Last May, Microsoft bought Tellme Networks, a maker of voice-recognition software used in directory assistance and for searching the Internet through voice commands. Microsoft paid $800 million for Tellme, a private company based in Mountain View, Calif., but it put in another $100 million for employee retention programs, according to two people close to Microsoft. That figure has not been previously disclosed.
Cash payments, stock options and grants to encourage employees to stay after a takeover are fairly standard in Silicon Valley, venture capitalists and industry analysts say. These incentive plans, they add, can extend deep into the engineering ranks, unlike the situation in most other industries where retention packages, or “golden handcuffs,” are typically offered to a handful of top executives.
For Tellme, which has 330 employees, the money set aside amounts to more than $300,000 for each worker.
Yahoo is a much larger company, with more than 14,000 employees worldwide. And if Microsoft acquires Yahoo, any employee retention effort would probably be more tailored and less broad than for Tellme, analysts say. But even a program proportionately much smaller could add another sizable expense, perhaps a couple of billion dollars, to the overall cost of bringing Yahoo into the Microsoft fold, analysts estimate.
“It would be a significant additional expense that would come due over several years,” said David B. Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School. “And Microsoft knew that when they made the bid for Yahoo.”
When buying companies in Silicon Valley, Microsoft in particular may have to offer attractive incentives to keep employees. Its reputation is still tainted by memories of its strong-arm tactics against companies like Netscape and Sun Microsystems in the 1990s, which prompted a long-running federal antitrust case that it lost.
That reputation is probably dated, noted Mark R. Anderson, chief executive of the Strategic News Service, a technology newsletter. “But if you’re in the Valley, that first impression of Microsoft still has to be overcome,” Mr. Anderson said. “So I think the company pays more in employee retention packages — a Microsoft premium.”
At Tellme, there was some history to overcome. Michael McCue, a founder and the chief executive, was a vice president for technology at Netscape. He met regularly with Justice Department investigators when they were assembling their antitrust case against Microsoft.
When the chief executive of Microsoft, Steven A. Ballmer, offered to buy Tellme, Mr. McCue asked if his company would be forced to switch the operating system used in its data center, Sun’s Solaris, to Microsoft’s Windows.
“No, no, we’ve learned our lesson,” Mr. Ballmer replied, according to Mr. McCue.
Mr. McCue declined to discuss Microsoft’s employee retention program, other than to say it had been ample and effective. A few people have left, including Robert P. Komin, Tellme’s chief financial officer, who joined a solar energy start-up, Solexel. But 95 percent of the workers who were with Tellme when it became a subsidiary of Microsoft stayed.
Microsoft's pursuit of Yahoo, if successful, will leave it with more than one bill due.
The shareholders, to be sure, will collect their payment, but Microsoft will probably need to put together a package of financial incentives to prevent talented engineers and managers from hopping to other jobs in Silicon Valley.
The employee retention program could be expensive, perhaps costing billions of dollars, based on what Microsoft did when it acquired another technology company last year.
A look at that deal suggests the extent to which people are the vital assets at companies that mainly generate ideas that become software and Web services. The hidden cost of "flight insurance" against employee defections may also be a reason why Microsoft has resisted raising its bid, which is now worth $42 billion.
Last May, Microsoft bought Tellme Networks, a maker of voice- recognition software used in directory assistance and for searching the Internet through voice commands. Microsoft paid $800 million for Tellme, a private company based in Mountain View, California, but it put in another $100 million for employee retention programs, according to two people close to Microsoft. That figure had not been previously disclosed.
Cash payments, stock options and grants to encourage employees to stay after a takeover are fairly standard in Silicon Valley, venture capitalists and industry analysts say. These incentive plans, they add, can extend deep into the engineering ranks, unlike the situation in most other industries where retention packages, or "golden handcuffs," are typically offered to a handful of top executives.
For Tellme, which has 330 employees, the money set aside amounts to more than $300,000 for each worker.
Yahoo is a much larger company, with more than 14,000 employees worldwide. And if Microsoft acquires Yahoo, any employee retention effort would probably be more tailored and less broad than for Tellme, analysts say. But even a program proportionately much smaller could add another sizable expense, perhaps a couple of billion dollars, to the overall cost of bringing Yahoo into the Microsoft fold, analysts estimate.
"It would be a significant additional expense that would come due over several years," said David Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School. "And Microsoft knew that when they made the bid for Yahoo."
When buying companies in Silicon Valley, Microsoft, in particular may have to offer attractive incentives to keep employees. Its reputation is still tainted by memories of its strong-arm tactics against companies like Netscape and Sun Microsystems in the 1990s, which prompted a long-running federal antitrust case that it lost.
That reputation is probably dated, said Mark Anderson, chief executive of the Strategic News Service, a technology newsletter. "But if you're in the Valley, that first impression of Microsoft still has to be overcome," he said. "So I think the company pays more in employee retention packages - a Microsoft premium."
At Tellme, there was some history to overcome. Michael McCue, the founder, was a vice president for technology at Netscape. He met regularly with investigators when they were assembling their antitrust case against Microsoft.
When the chief executive of Microsoft, Steven Ballmer, offered to buy Tellme, McCue asked whether his company would be forced to switch the operating system used in its data center, the Sun Solaris system, to Microsoft Windows.
"No, no, we've learned our lesson," Ballmer replied, according to McCue.
McCue declined to discuss Microsoft's employee retention program, other than to say it had been ample and effective. A few people have left, including Robert Komin, Tellme's chief financial officer, who joined a solar energy startup, Solexel. But 95 percent of the workers who were with Tellme when it became a subsidiary of Microsoft stayed.
Uses only research-based, theory-supported approaches to improving employee engagement. Avoided are gimmicks such as employee of the month, suggestion boxes, prizes or other “carrots.” While commonly used, these short-term fixes fail to produce genuine employee loyalty (more than 60 years’ of research tells us so!).
Employs an easy-to-understand systems approach to ensure the root causes of turnover are addressed and the potential for lasting change unleashed.
Customizes all activities to your organization’s unique history, current practices and strategic objectives. Also considered are challenges unique to your industry sector, competitive marketplace issues and talent shortages.
Involves those responsible for implementing change in actually creating the change, ensuring input and improved shared understanding and support of all initiatives.
Integrates hands-on, action-oriented approaches that enable organizations to move forward quickly and effectively
Recognizes the research-proven role of no-cost strategies in developing the “glue” that builds employee loyalty and commitment.
Brings to your organization leading-edge organization-development best practices to effectively and quickly build a retention-rich culture.
The Employee Retention Strategies newsletter, which gained this website the No. 1 positions on Google and Yahoo during its publication in the early part of this decade, was a nationally noted source for research-based, fact-driven guidance on enhancing employee retention. (Back issues still are available). From that research come approaches built on a solid foundation of what works (and what doesn’t) to gain the commitment of employees in all industries and economic sectors.
Microsoft Corp has considered earmarking $1.5 billion to retain Yahoo Inc employees if it acquires the company, according to court documents in a shareholder suit filed against Yahoo.
The $1.5 billion figure was discussed in a communication between the general counsels of Microsoft and Yahoo, and came to light when a lawyer representing Yahoo mentioned the amount in a March 24 hearing in a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court.
Edward Welch, the lawyer representing Yahoo, also said during the hearing that 1,000 layoffs Yahoo made in February were the only job cuts the company planned to make. "There are no more reductions in force planned for the future," he said.
Yahoo! was founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo in January 1994 and was incorporated on March 1, 1995. On January 13, 2009, Yahoo! appointed Carol Bartz, former executive chairperson of Autodesk, as its new chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors.
The shareholders, to be sure, will collect their payment, but Microsoft will most likely need to put together a package of financial incentives to prevent talented engineers and managers from hopping to other jobs in Silicon Valley.
The employee retention program could be expensive, perhaps costing billions of dollars, based on what Microsoft did when it acquired another technology company last year.
A look at that deal suggests the extent to which people are the vital assets at companies that mainly generate ideas that become software and Web services. The hidden cost of “flight insurance” against employee defections may also be a reason Microsoft has resisted raising its bid, which is now worth $42 billion.
Last May, Microsoft bought Tellme Networks, a maker of voice-recognition software used in directory assistance and for searching the Internet through voice commands. Microsoft paid $800 million for Tellme, a private company based in Mountain View, Calif., but it put in another $100 million for employee retention programs, according to two people close to Microsoft. That figure has not been previously disclosed.
Cash payments, stock options and grants to encourage employees to stay after a takeover are fairly standard in Silicon Valley, venture capitalists and industry analysts say. These incentive plans, they add, can extend deep into the engineering ranks, unlike the situation in most other industries where retention packages, or “golden handcuffs,” are typically offered to a handful of top executives.
For Tellme, which has 330 employees, the money set aside amounts to more than $300,000 for each worker.
Yahoo is a much larger company, with more than 14,000 employees worldwide. And if Microsoft acquires Yahoo, any employee retention effort would probably be more tailored and less broad than for Tellme, analysts say. But even a program proportionately much smaller could add another sizable expense, perhaps a couple of billion dollars, to the overall cost of bringing Yahoo into the Microsoft fold, analysts estimate.
“It would be a significant additional expense that would come due over several years,” said David B. Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School. “And Microsoft knew that when they made the bid for Yahoo.”
When buying companies in Silicon Valley, Microsoft in particular may have to offer attractive incentives to keep employees. Its reputation is still tainted by memories of its strong-arm tactics against companies like Netscape and Sun Microsystems in the 1990s, which prompted a long-running federal antitrust case that it lost.
That reputation is probably dated, noted Mark R. Anderson, chief executive of the Strategic News Service, a technology newsletter. “But if you’re in the Valley, that first impression of Microsoft still has to be overcome,” Mr. Anderson said. “So I think the company pays more in employee retention packages — a Microsoft premium.”
At Tellme, there was some history to overcome. Michael McCue, a founder and the chief executive, was a vice president for technology at Netscape. He met regularly with Justice Department investigators when they were assembling their antitrust case against Microsoft.
When the chief executive of Microsoft, Steven A. Ballmer, offered to buy Tellme, Mr. McCue asked if his company would be forced to switch the operating system used in its data center, Sun’s Solaris, to Microsoft’s Windows.
“No, no, we’ve learned our lesson,” Mr. Ballmer replied, according to Mr. McCue.
Mr. McCue declined to discuss Microsoft’s employee retention program, other than to say it had been ample and effective. A few people have left, including Robert P. Komin, Tellme’s chief financial officer, who joined a solar energy start-up, Solexel. But 95 percent of the workers who were with Tellme when it became a subsidiary of Microsoft stayed.
Microsoft's pursuit of Yahoo, if successful, will leave it with more than one bill due.
The shareholders, to be sure, will collect their payment, but Microsoft will probably need to put together a package of financial incentives to prevent talented engineers and managers from hopping to other jobs in Silicon Valley.
The employee retention program could be expensive, perhaps costing billions of dollars, based on what Microsoft did when it acquired another technology company last year.
A look at that deal suggests the extent to which people are the vital assets at companies that mainly generate ideas that become software and Web services. The hidden cost of "flight insurance" against employee defections may also be a reason why Microsoft has resisted raising its bid, which is now worth $42 billion.
Last May, Microsoft bought Tellme Networks, a maker of voice- recognition software used in directory assistance and for searching the Internet through voice commands. Microsoft paid $800 million for Tellme, a private company based in Mountain View, California, but it put in another $100 million for employee retention programs, according to two people close to Microsoft. That figure had not been previously disclosed.
Cash payments, stock options and grants to encourage employees to stay after a takeover are fairly standard in Silicon Valley, venture capitalists and industry analysts say. These incentive plans, they add, can extend deep into the engineering ranks, unlike the situation in most other industries where retention packages, or "golden handcuffs," are typically offered to a handful of top executives.
For Tellme, which has 330 employees, the money set aside amounts to more than $300,000 for each worker.
Yahoo is a much larger company, with more than 14,000 employees worldwide. And if Microsoft acquires Yahoo, any employee retention effort would probably be more tailored and less broad than for Tellme, analysts say. But even a program proportionately much smaller could add another sizable expense, perhaps a couple of billion dollars, to the overall cost of bringing Yahoo into the Microsoft fold, analysts estimate.
"It would be a significant additional expense that would come due over several years," said David Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School. "And Microsoft knew that when they made the bid for Yahoo."
When buying companies in Silicon Valley, Microsoft, in particular may have to offer attractive incentives to keep employees. Its reputation is still tainted by memories of its strong-arm tactics against companies like Netscape and Sun Microsystems in the 1990s, which prompted a long-running federal antitrust case that it lost.
That reputation is probably dated, said Mark Anderson, chief executive of the Strategic News Service, a technology newsletter. "But if you're in the Valley, that first impression of Microsoft still has to be overcome," he said. "So I think the company pays more in employee retention packages - a Microsoft premium."
At Tellme, there was some history to overcome. Michael McCue, the founder, was a vice president for technology at Netscape. He met regularly with investigators when they were assembling their antitrust case against Microsoft.
When the chief executive of Microsoft, Steven Ballmer, offered to buy Tellme, McCue asked whether his company would be forced to switch the operating system used in its data center, the Sun Solaris system, to Microsoft Windows.
"No, no, we've learned our lesson," Ballmer replied, according to McCue.
McCue declined to discuss Microsoft's employee retention program, other than to say it had been ample and effective. A few people have left, including Robert Komin, Tellme's chief financial officer, who joined a solar energy startup, Solexel. But 95 percent of the workers who were with Tellme when it became a subsidiary of Microsoft stayed.
Uses only research-based, theory-supported approaches to improving employee engagement. Avoided are gimmicks such as employee of the month, suggestion boxes, prizes or other “carrots.” While commonly used, these short-term fixes fail to produce genuine employee loyalty (more than 60 years’ of research tells us so!).
Employs an easy-to-understand systems approach to ensure the root causes of turnover are addressed and the potential for lasting change unleashed.
Customizes all activities to your organization’s unique history, current practices and strategic objectives. Also considered are challenges unique to your industry sector, competitive marketplace issues and talent shortages.
Involves those responsible for implementing change in actually creating the change, ensuring input and improved shared understanding and support of all initiatives.
Integrates hands-on, action-oriented approaches that enable organizations to move forward quickly and effectively
Recognizes the research-proven role of no-cost strategies in developing the “glue” that builds employee loyalty and commitment.
Brings to your organization leading-edge organization-development best practices to effectively and quickly build a retention-rich culture.
The Employee Retention Strategies newsletter, which gained this website the No. 1 positions on Google and Yahoo during its publication in the early part of this decade, was a nationally noted source for research-based, fact-driven guidance on enhancing employee retention. (Back issues still are available). From that research come approaches built on a solid foundation of what works (and what doesn’t) to gain the commitment of employees in all industries and economic sectors.
Microsoft Corp has considered earmarking $1.5 billion to retain Yahoo Inc employees if it acquires the company, according to court documents in a shareholder suit filed against Yahoo.
The $1.5 billion figure was discussed in a communication between the general counsels of Microsoft and Yahoo, and came to light when a lawyer representing Yahoo mentioned the amount in a March 24 hearing in a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court.
Edward Welch, the lawyer representing Yahoo, also said during the hearing that 1,000 layoffs Yahoo made in February were the only job cuts the company planned to make. "There are no more reductions in force planned for the future," he said.