Microsoft-Yahoo

2008

With its eyes fixed steadily on rival Google (GOOG), software giant Microsoft (MSFT) shocked the tech world with a hostile $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo (YHOO) in February. Over the following four months, Yahoo's then-CEO Jerry Yang scrambled to fight off the bid. In early May, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer withdrew a sweetened $47.5 billion offer, opting instead for talks about a more limited partnership. A month later, Ballmer said he was calling off the talks completely, though since then has said publicly he'd like to do some kind of deal with Yahoo. Yang was ultimately replaced by Carol Bartz, formerly CEO of Autodesk.