Yahoo sets date for annual meeting

By Michele Gershberg and Eric Auchard

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) set plans on Tuesday to hold its annual shareholder meeting on August 1 in the heart of Silicon Valley, setting the stage for a showdown with activist investor Carl Icahn, who is mounting a proxy fight for control of the company.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that Icahn, a billionaire investor, would seek to remove Jerry Yang as Yahoo chief executive, citing the company's failure, so far, to reach a merger or partnership deal with Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O).

Icahn has proposed an alternate slate of directors for Yahoo's board, but had not directly targeted Yang over the breakdown in talks early this month for a $47.5 billion (24.2 billion pound) deal.

"It's no longer a mystery to me why Microsoft's offer isn't around," the Journal quoted Icahn as saying.

"How can Yahoo keep saying they're willing to negotiate and sell the company on the one hand, while at the same time they're completely sabotaging the process without telling anyone?"

Yahoo fired back in a statement: "Yahoo's board of directors, including Jerry Yang, has been crystal clear that it would consider any proposal by Microsoft that was in the best interests of its shareholders."

The Sunnyvale, California-based company said Yahoo had been in extensive talks with Microsoft for the last several months, culminating in Microsoft's decision not to pursue a deal. "Mr. Icahn's assertions ignore this clear factual record."

Microsoft said it had no comment on Icahn's actions.