Jerry Yang was Yahoo’s CEO when the company rejected Microsoft’s $44.6 billion acquisition offer in 2008.
Microsoft announced the unsolicited proposal on February 1, 2008, offering $31 per Yahoo share in a mix of cash and Microsoft stock. The headline value was approximately $44.6 billion. Yahoo’s board rejected the offer, saying it substantially undervalued the company and was not in shareholders’ best interests.
Yang, Yahoo’s co-founder and chief executive, became the public face of the decision. Microsoft later increased its proposal to about $47.5 billion, but negotiations still failed. Microsoft withdrew its bid on May 3, 2008, after Yahoo declined to accept the revised terms.
The answer is sometimes blurred because the rejection was formally a board decision rather than a CEO acting alone. Nevertheless, Jerry Yang is the canonical quiz answer: he was CEO during the takeover battle and strongly associated with Yahoo’s refusal. He stepped down as CEO later in 2008.