Rupert Murdoch and Yahoo a non-starter

Julian Sharpe | 9:58 am | July 14, 2008 | News, yahoo

News Corps media mogul Rupert Murdoch has said his company would definitely not be interested in any deal with Yahoo currently. Despite rumours of talks with Yahoo soon after Microsoft originally tabled its 44.6bn takeover offer, Murdoch’s interest has cooled, now saying that possibility of a partnership “very unlikely.”

Speaking at the annual Allen & Co Sun Valley Conference, Murdoch said he also doubted Yahoo and Microsoft would ever complete a deal. “There won’t be a deal. There are bad personal feelings,” he said. “Within six months, Microsoft will walk away.” Meanwhile, at the same conference Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang said he wouldn’t be talking with Microsoft attendees while he was there.

Google co-founder Sergie Brin, whose company recently signed a multi-million dollar search deal with Yahoo!, told reporters Yang, who had been photographed with his head in his hands, was coping well with the current situation. “I think he’s a good leader, but under stress. There’s obviously a lot of frustration, but he’s doing pretty well,” he said