Microsoft Still Pondering Yahoo Options

Microsoft's board met yesterday to discuss the next move in its bid for Yahoo but didn't make a decision, the Wall Street Journal reports. Directors have given CEO Steve Ballmer broad leeway to decide between going hostile or walking away from the bid, and insiders say it could still go either way. An announcement is expected later this week.

Microsoft appears willing to go as high as $33 per share for Yahoo, whose shareholders are reportedly holding out for at least $35 and management wanting a price in the upper $30s. Yahoo has been looking to other parties to ward off a Microsoft takeover; it's tried Google ads and is said to be in merger negotiations with AOL. (More Steve Ballmer stories.)