To print: Click here or Select File and then Print from your browser's menu

This story was printed from silicon.com, located at http://www.silicon.com/

Story URL: http://management.silicon.com/careers/0,39024671,39210519,00.htm

Microsoft earmarks $1.5bn for Yahoo! staff
…if the deal goes through

By Dawn Kawamoto

Published: Wednesday 30 April 2008

Microsoft plans to set aside $1.5bn for employee retention at Yahoo!, should it succeed in its unsolicited buyout bid for the internet search pioneer, according to court documents in a shareholder lawsuit cited by the Wall Street Journal.

Check out silicon.com's latest Cheat Sheets…

♦ Google Android

♦ Video: ID cards

♦ BBC iPlayer

♦ Galileo

♦ CRM

♦ Biometrics

The documents include transcripts of a conference call hearing on 24 March between lawyers for Yahoo! and two Detroit-based pension funds. During the call, a Yahoo! lawyer noted Microsoft had informed the company it "earmarked $1.5bn for employee retention at Yahoo!," cites the Journal.

Yahoo!'s workforce stands at approximately 13,200, following layoffs of roughly 1,000 employees in early February. That translates into an average of $113,636 per employee.

Employees at Tellme Networks apparently did much better when they were acquired by Microsoft, averaging approximately $300,000 per worker, according to a report in the New York Times.