5

Jon Miller - ideal CEO candidate for Yahoo

If he doesn't buy the portal for $30 bln, he'd still be good at leading it

Investor interview by Bambi Francisco Roizen
December 2, 2008 | Comments
Short URL: http://vator.tv/n/5a7

Ex-AOL Chief Jonathan Miller is considering buying some or all of Yahoo in a deal that could value the company at twice its value today. Miller runs a private equity firm, Velocity Interactive Group, with Ross Levinsohn, former head of Fox Interactive Media. 

According to the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Miller has been talking to private equity investors and sovereign wealth funds for months in hopes of raising money for a Yahoo deal, and it is unclear whether the talks have progressed or are just continuing, these people say.

Mr. Miller believes he can do a deal that would be worth around $20 to $22 a share to Yahoo shareholders, these people say, which would involve raising about $28 billion to $30 billion to purchase the entire company.

Velocity Interactive Group would not comment.  

Miller may or may not be successful in taking over Yahoo, particularly when buying it requires him to raise billions. But his involvement in Yahoo would be a positive one. He is considered the "ideal" CEO candidate in the view of Jeff Lindsay, analyst at Sanford Bernstein, who was on an All-Star analyst panel I moderated at the AlwaysOn conference in Half Moon Bay.  In fact, Miller is Lindsay's top pick.

"A CEO in Yahoo has to do two things: cut costs and turn around the advertising business," said Lindsay. Miller "revitalized" AOL's operations at a time they were in a similar position. Miller demonstrated an ability to reduce costs and accelerate the advertising business. He'd be able to do it again at Yahoo.

For other potential candidates, read: Who's going to reinvent Yahoo?

 

 

 

 

 


Related companies, investors and entrepreneurs

Bio: Partner at Velocity Interactive GroupOver the past 20 years, Ross had been on the forefront of media innovation and transformation. In 2...

Related news

2008-11-18-whos-going-to-reinvent-yahoo

Who's going to reinvent Yahoo?

The characteristics, and the short list

Technology trends and news by Bambi Francisco Roizen


blog comments powered by Disqus
Find your friends' startup new!
Vator is more valuable if you know who's here.
Discover who has a startup and help their success by following their progress!

Featured Stories

Latest company news bites on Vator

Xeinge Group - Kevin Rivers (Founder/CEO)
A new social networking service is coming! Get your exclusive invite on Bluurp today! (http://www.bluurp.com)
See more
BlazeMeter - Alon Girmonsky (CEO & Founder)
VIDEO:Benchmark, Tune and Test to Improve Drupal Site Performance with BlazeMeter and Acquia http://bit.ly/19PTTR2
See more
Kiip was featured in a article: "A list of top LA accelerators and incubators" at 08:48am May 17
Amplify, Launchpad, MuckerLab, Idealab and Science among those churning out new startups See more
BetterWorks was featured in a article: "A list of top LA accelerators and incubators" at 08:48am May 17
Amplify, Launchpad, MuckerLab, Idealab and Science among those churning out new startups See more