Yahoo in negotiations with News Corp.?

Yahoo is reportedly in negotiations with Rupert Murdoch-owned media goliath News Corp. as the beleaguered web giant seeks to avoid the threat of a takeover by Microsoft. Both The Wall Street Journal and TechCrunch report Yahoo secretly is negotiating a deal with News Corp. to combine social networking site MySpace and related Murdoch-owned digital properties in exchange for at least a 20 percent Yahoo stake that would enable the company ward off Microsoft's advances and remain independent.

In a letter outlining Yahoo's decision to reject Microsoft's unsolicited $44.6 billion bid, CEO Jerry Yang urged shareholders to remain confident in the firm and its leadership, writing  "Yahoo is a faster-moving, better-organized, more nimble company than it was just a few months ago … We have redeployed our resources to drive Yahoo's key strategic priorities, taking important steps to streamline our organization and close down or scale back businesses that don't support these critical growth initiatives." On Tuesday, Yahoo began layoffs of about 1,000 employees, a move announced last month in an effort to streamline and focus its business.

For the latest on the Yahoo/Microsoft saga:
- read this AFP article

Related articles:
T-Mobile jilts Google for Yahoo oneSearch
AT&T, Yahoo ink advertising deal
T-Mobile UK signs advertising deal with Yahoo
Yahoo: Mobile web to overtake PCs in next decade