martinibuster - 2:48 am on Jan 4, 2006 (gmt 0)

Yahoo was almost out of business when they "partnered" with SBC.

No.

Yahoo was not almost out of business when they partnered with SBC. If they were so destitute, where do you think they obtained the money to launch Yahoo Personals, buy HotJobs, and purchase Launch?

Yahoo and SBC announced the launch of their services [yhoo.client.shareholder.com] in late 2002, although they'd been planning and investing for it since 2001.

Here is a quote [yhoo.client.shareholder.com] from the 2002 Yahoo Annual Report (2002 being the year you say they almost went out of business):

Full year 2002 revenue was $953 million, a 33 percent increase over 2001. Importantly, year-over-year revenue growth accelerated with each quarter in 2002, due to the change in our client mix and the growing contribution of our newer, more sustainable revenue sources. Yahoo!'s balance sheet also remained strong, ending the year with $1.53 billion in cash and marketable debt securities, up more than $60 million from the beginning of the year.

Everybody was struggling the year before in 2001, and it wasn't confined to the internet. But by 2002, Terry Semel's belt tightening and focus on growing revenue streams paid off.

Late 2002 is when they were negotiating purchasing Inktomi, and a few months later they purchased Overture and all the rest. Is that a company on the ropes? And it sure wasn't fueled by SBC income.