Microsoft made an official offer to buy Yahoo! last night for $44.6 billion dollars. See the story on news.yahoo.com. Is this what the new logo would look like?

Kidding aside, here are my thoughts:

  1. Bad for Yahoo! employees. None of the technical folks would like the idea. Some will probably leave.
  2. There goes Yahoo!’s high uptime reputation
  3. Microsoft will add no value to Yahoo!, and the newly formed Microhoo! will NOT better positioned to take out Google.
  4. It’s just about improving Microsoft’s share price. Read: Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates’ ego stroke.
  5. The integration of the two teams will be a *huge* mess.
  6. I like the positive effect that it had on the Yahoo stock price this morning.
  7. I also like the effect it had on Google’s stock price, because I had it shorted! w00t!

Will it go through? I think that the recent layoff announcements eerily coincides with this, which makes it easy for one to assume that they were "trimming the fat" to make it more attractive to sell.Also, Terry Semel stepped down yesterday. Odd timing?

And finally, in Steve Balmers "offer", he hints that he will take aggressive measures if necessary. If Microsoft wants something and money is the only thing in the way of it happening…I give this a 75% chance it will go through. I’ve heard that if it does, they want it to happen in the "second half of 2008″. Some interesting times ahead for all Yahoos.