LOS ANGELES, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer on Wednesday dismissed the possibility of buying out Yahoo, sending Yahoo shares diving by 14 percent.

    "Let me be clear," Ballmer said at Microsoft's annual shareholder meeting. "We are done with all acquisition discussions with Yahoo."

    Ballmer's remarks were seen as a response to this week's announced resignation by Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang who decided to step down due to Yahoo shareholders' resentment over his poor handling of Microsoft's buyout attempt.

Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang declines to speak to a reporter at the 26th annual Allen & Co conference in Sun Valley, Idaho July 10, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Yang's announced resignation pushed Yahoo shares up on Tuesday because investors hoped it meant a deal with Microsoft would now be more likely.

    But Ballmer said Microsoft and Yahoo are not currently talking about a search deal. He added however that his company would still be "very open" on a collaboration on Internet search.

    Some analysts have interpreted Ballmer's public comments about a Yahoo buyout as negotiating posturing, and suspect Microsoft might still want to grab Yahoo at a low price, in hopes of improving their joint position in on-line search and advertising.

    Yahoo turned down a 47.5-billion-U.S.-dollar takeover offer from Microsoft in May, and later rejected Microsoft's bid to buy only its search engine. Ballmer has said repeatedly of late that the buyout remains off the table, though a search-related deal is possible.

    On Wednesday, Yahoo shares were down 1.67 dollars, or 14.5 percent, at 9.88 dollars in afternoon trading, well below the 33-dollar per share that Microsoft offered in May. Microsoft shares tumbled 60 cents, or 3.1 percent, to 19.02 dollars.

Microsoft CEO rules out another bid to buyout Yahoo

    LOS ANGELES, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer has said his company would not make another bid to buyout Internet firm Yahoo, it was reported on Friday.

    "We made an offer, we made another offer, and it was clear that Yahoo didn't want to sell the business to us and we moved on," said Ballmer, quoted by the Wall Street Journal.  Full story

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang to step down

    LOS ANGELES, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang announced Monday that he is stepping down after a turbulent year and a half of running the Internet giant.

    Yang, 40, told employees in a memo that he will continue as CEO until a replacement is found, then will go back to his old job as " Chief Yahoo." He will remain on the board. Full story