Yahoo board wins solid shareholder backing in vote

By Eric Auchard

SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - Yahoo's (YHOO.O) board of directors won strong backing from shareholders at its annual meeting on Friday, with Jerry Yang, the company's embattled CEO, receiving 85 percent of the vote in his favour.

Investors holding nearly 76 percent of Yahoo's 1.38 billion shares gave solid votes in favour of all nine current directors, in what represents an endorsement of their tough stance with Microsoft (MSFT.O) in talks on a merger or partial sale.

Executives and board members tried to soothe dissenting investors, insisting Yahoo had been serious in the Microsoft talks and that it had good prospects in the next three years.

Seeking to counter attempts by some to blame Yang for talks collapsing, Chairman Roy Bostock said Yahoo's board "called the shots" when discussing Microsoft's proposals, including a $47.5 billion (24 billion pounds) bid and attempts to buy Yahoo's Web search business.

Bostock said he could not understand why the software maker withdrew its bid. "There was never a compelling offer put on the table," he said. "That never occurred in this process."

A Microsoft spokesman disputed Bostock's version of events, saying "Yahoo is attempting to rewrite history yet again."

The solid vote in favour of the directors surprised even some Yahoo officials, who had braced for a stronger protest vote after the tumultuous Microsoft saga and older grievances over Yahoo's slipping performance against Google (GOOG.O).

Three members of Yahoo's executive compensation committee -- Bostock, Ron Burkle and Arthur Kern -- each received about 80 percent in favour of re-election, with the remaining votes withheld in protest. The "Gang of Three," as one dissident labelled them at the meeting, had received more than a 30 percent unfavourable vote at the 2007 annual meeting.