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An Activist Investor Lands in Your Boardroom — Now What?

Harvard Business Review

After Icahn Enterprises initially acquired a 4 percent stake in Motorola in 2007, the company invited Icahn allies Keith Meister and William Hambrecht onto its board in April 2008, shortly after directors had approved the breakup. He acquired large blocks of stock in companies as varied as Apple, Biogen, Time Warner, U.S.

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An Insider’s Account of the Yahoo-Alibaba Deal

Harvard Business Review

In May of 2005, Yahoo CEO Terry Semel, cofounder Jerry Yang, corporate development executive Toby Coppel, and I — I was then chief financial officer of the Silicon Valley internet company — went on what would turn out to be a fateful trip to China. The company was owned by management, venture capitalists, and SoftBank.