Why Sovereign Wealth Funds Were Smarter Than Yahoo Shareholders

Published

4 years ago

November 11, 2014

Screenshot of Yahoo.com from November 11, 2014

Sunnyvale-based Yahoo was founded by hungry entrepreneurs, Jerry Yang and David Filo. Post dot-com-boom, Yahoo had acquired, sold and shuttered many high-profile acquisitions such as Geocities, Overture Services, Hotjobs.com, Right Media and Broadcast.com (which made Mark Cuban very rich.) In 2013, Yahoo paid US$ 1.1 billion for a blog service called Tumblr, founded by young entrepreneur David Karp. Yahoo had purchased the trendy startup aspiring to challenge Facebook and Twitter. When Yahoo booked goodwill worth US$ 750.9 million from the deal, the company rebutted, “The acquisition of Tumblr is expected to bring a significant community of users to the Yahoo! network.” In comparison, back in 2013, Yahoo had only US$ 74 million in tangible assets.

Why did Yahoo buy a blog service that generates minuscule revenue, yet sell Alibaba?

Selling Alibaba

In 2005, Yahoo paid US$ 1 billion for a 40% stake in Alibaba. Peeling the onion back further, Yahoo hired Scott Thompson as CEO after firing Carol Bartz. [ Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view content. ]

ADIA Seeks to Sell KIC Headquarters

Published

1 day ago

August 18, 2018

Site Director

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is seeking to sell the building that houses the headquarters of the Korea Investment Corporation (KIC). [ Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view content. ]

BMO and OTPP Test Blockchain Canadian Dollar Debt Deal

Published

2 days ago

August 17, 2018

Site Director

The Bank of Montreal (BMO) and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) participated in a landmark blockchain Canadian-dollar debt transaction. [ Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view content. ]

Just Group Acquires Corinthian Pension Consulting

Published

2 days ago

August 17, 2018

Site Director

Just Group plc acquired a 75% ownership stake in the holding company of Corinthian Pension Consulting Limited (Corinthian Pension Consulting). Operating in the institutional world for over 12 years, Corinthian Pension Consulting provides advisory services to defined-benefit pension scheme trustees and scheme sponsors undertaking bulk scheme exercises. The remaining 25% will be retained by current shareholders of Corinthian Pension Consulting. Robert MacGregor will continue to lead Corinthian Pension Consulting, as its Chief Executive Officer. Furthermore, Corinthian Benefits Consulting Limited and Corinthian Affinity Solutions Limited will continue to operate as before, becoming part of a newly formed holding company, Corinthian Group Holdings Limited.