Recent reports indicate that Microsoft is sending up trial balloons of a $50 Billion offer to purchase Yahoo. The move is an apparent response to the recent Google purchase of DoubleClick .
On the same note, a number of “Internet Analysis” seem to be of the opinion that the culture at Microsoft will stifle the Yahoo culture. As is often the case in the M & A arena, the “Us / Them” mentality overshadows sound business judgment. Microsoft, on the other hand has seemed to have avoided this problem. There have been a number of instances where Microsoft did reorganize / reorient an acquired company, but it was usually a case good technology and mediocre management. Companies that seemed to have it together Microsoft has respectfully left to their own devices, usually with positive results. Based on this history, I would expect that Microsoft would leave Yahoo to pretty much run its own show. After all, Yahoo posts more traffic than any other site on the Internet and MSN is in third position - who would mess with that.