Deal Puts Icahn on Yahoo Board

Yahoo will add two seats to its board of directors and put Carl Icahn in one of them, reports the Wall Street Journal, in a deal that ends Icahn’s proxy fight. Eight of Yahoo’s current board members, including CEO Jerry Yang, will keep their seats, while a ninth will resign. The board will select two members of Icahn’s proxy slate to fill his seat, and the newly created one.

Icahn said he was happy with the deal and optimistic about Yahoo’s future, though he still believes that the company should sell itself or its search business given “the right transaction.” Icahn’s position was weakened last week when Legg Mason, owner of 4.4% of Yahoo, announced it was backing Yahoo’s current board, not Icahn’s proxies. (More Yahoo stories.)