雅虎該如何走向復(fù)興
????雅虎(Yahoo)CEO的“學(xué)歷門”已告塵埃落定,對雅虎的傷害已經(jīng)造成。一向麻煩纏身的雅虎董事會(huì)這次輸在事先沒有好好審查這位前途無量的CEO的簡歷。現(xiàn)在雅虎能做的只有收拾殘局繼續(xù)前進(jìn)。不過這究竟意味著什么?雅虎怎樣才能走出眼下的困境? ????當(dāng)然,眼下需要雅虎收拾的爛攤子不少。雅虎近年來像走馬燈似的更換CEO,他們一個(gè)個(gè)信心十足地來,轉(zhuǎn)眼又垂頭喪氣地走。雅虎股票與2006年的最高值時(shí)相比已經(jīng)下跌了64%,而且它的廣告收入也正在被Facebook和谷歌(Google)步步蠶食。更重要的是,一直以來,雅虎董事會(huì)一直昏招不斷,做出的決策只會(huì)使事情變得更糟。 ????2012年,雅虎原本希望新CEO斯科特?湯普森能帶領(lǐng)公司走向未來。湯普森具有領(lǐng)導(dǎo)易趣(eBay)貝寶(PayPal)支付平臺(tái)的成功經(jīng)驗(yàn),因此他打算把雅虎的發(fā)展重點(diǎn)從在線廣告轉(zhuǎn)移到電子商務(wù)和數(shù)據(jù)分析上。這是一個(gè)非常大膽和另類的發(fā)展戰(zhàn)略,而且說不定能夠成功。不過后來維權(quán)投資者第三點(diǎn)基金(Third Point)卻在一份雅虎向證監(jiān)會(huì)(SEC)提交的股東委托書中披露了湯普森的學(xué)歷造假。從第三點(diǎn)基金“棒打鴛鴦”之日起,不到一個(gè)星期,湯普森就離開了雅虎。 ????“學(xué)歷門”事件使雅虎陷入了自從微軟(Microsoft)撤回31美元每股的收購邀約以來最黑暗的時(shí)候——現(xiàn)在甚至也可能是雅虎18年歷史上最悲慘的日子。不過老話說“黎明前總有黑暗”,這話對雅虎來說也不乏一些道理。雖說雅虎也許還會(huì)迎來更黑暗的時(shí)候,不過讓我們現(xiàn)在暫且不去想它。如果雅虎能夠做出正確的決策,那么它有沒有可能轉(zhuǎn)“危”為“機(jī)”,使公司絕地逢生,變得更強(qiáng)大呢? ????要想實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)目標(biāo),雅虎必須做出一些艱難的決定,冒一些大風(fēng)險(xiǎn),還需要不小的智慧。 ????第一步就是盡量滿足第三點(diǎn)基金的要求。這一點(diǎn)看起來是不可避免的,因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在雅虎董事會(huì)中有三名董事都是第三點(diǎn)基金推薦的,其中就包括第三點(diǎn)基金的CEO丹尼爾?洛布本人——他也是雅虎的眼中釘和肉中刺。洛布提出了整改雅虎的九項(xiàng)要點(diǎn)。除了其中的幾項(xiàng)涉及重大變革之外,總體看來,洛布的九大要點(diǎn)就像一個(gè)建筑師在餐巾紙上畫的建筑草圖一樣,難逃“心血來潮”之嫌。 ????第三點(diǎn)基金強(qiáng)烈呼吁雅虎將旗下的阿里巴巴(Alibaba)和雅虎日本等亞洲資產(chǎn)出手變現(xiàn)。雖然如果雅虎繼續(xù)持有這些資產(chǎn),它們的價(jià)值可能會(huì)繼續(xù)增長,不過第三點(diǎn)基金認(rèn)為,現(xiàn)在雅虎已經(jīng)到了放棄它們的時(shí)候,把變現(xiàn)的資金用來投資那些才華橫溢的網(wǎng)絡(luò)初創(chuàng)公司,這可能會(huì)為雅虎品牌帶來第二春。 |
????The train wreck is over. The damage has been done. Yahoo's perennially troubled board failed to vet the resume of a once-promising CEO. All the company can do now is pick up the pieces and move on. But what exactly does that mean? How does Yahoo move on from here? ????Certainly, there is no shortage of wreckage to move on from: Yahoo's (YHOO) CEO suite has been a revolving door of leaders. Each enters hopeful and exits defeated. The stock has lost 64% of its value since its January 2006 peak. Facebook and Google (GOOG) have been eating Yahoo's ad-revenue lunch. And the whole time, Yahoo's board has floundered in complacency, making the easy decisions that only made things worse. ????Yahoo began 2012 with hope that its brand-new CEO Scott Thompson had what it took to push the company into the future. Thompson's success leading eBay's (EBAY) PayPal unit inspired him to steer the company away from online ads and toward e-commerce and data analysis. It was a strategy bold and unorthodox enough that it just might work. Then activist investor Third Point uncovered a falsehood in a Thomson bio included in a Yahoo proxy statement filed with the SEC. Third Point used it as a thug would wield a cudgel. Within a week, Thompson was gone. ????That has plunged Yahoo into its darkest hour since Microsoft (MSFT) withdrew its $31-a-share takeover bid -- perhaps even the bleakest moment of its 18-year history. And yet, those old comforting chestnuts like "it's always darkest before the dawn" may have some truth in them for Yahoo. It could easily get even darker for the one-time web giant, but let's not think about that right now. What if the chaos that is shaking the company could -- if the right decisions are made -- make it stronger? ????It would take some hard decisions, big risks and a good deal of cunning. ????The first step would be giving Third Point much of what it wants. That seems all but inevitable, now that Yahoo's board seats three of Third Point's recommended directors, including the firm's own Daniel Loeb -- until now Yahoo's gadfly-in-chief. Loeb outlined his "solutions" for Yahoo in nine tidy bullet points. But except for a few significant changes -- clearly, his true agenda -- Loeb's plan is as specific as an architect's blueprint drawn on a cocktail napkin. ????ThirdPoint was most specific when it clamored for Yahoo to cash out of its Asian assets like Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. While the value of these assets could increase if Yahoo holds onto them, it's time for Yahoo to give them up and use that money to invest in select investments of talented web startups that could provide the foundation for the second act of the Yahoo brand. |