Mercury News Reports: " The curtain appeared to come down Thursday on Silicon Valley's most popular business drama, as Microsoft Chairman Steve Ballmer confirmed that talks to acquire Yahoo have ended and a major shareholder advisory service said it was backing the Internet company's board.
"It didn't work out," Ballmer said during Microsoft's annual presentation to analysts. "Fine. We're done. We can move on."
RickMetrics Group, a subsidiary of ISS, one of the oldest and most influential advisory firms, endorsed Yahoo's board, which is up for re-election at the Aug. 1 annual meeting.
"It's basically game over," said Joseph Grundfest, a Stanford University law professor and co-director of the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance."
