Yahoo! clears way for massive stock buy back

Yahoo! has set the stage to buy back three billion dollars worth of its stock in the coming three years, according to a filing made with US securities regulators.

The plan was approved by the Yahoo! board of directors on June 24 and authorizes the pioneering Internet firm to repurchase as much as three billion dollars in common stock during the next three years.

"The repurchases may take place in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions," the Sunnyvale, California-based company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The repurchase program was devised during an annual meeting of stockholders at which all members of the firm's board of directors were re-elected.

Chief executive Carol Bartz and her predecessor Jerry Yang, a Yahoo! co-founder, each got more than a million votes in support of their positions on the board, according to the filing.

(c) 2010 AFP