Since Microsoft announced its $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo on February 1, shareholders have filed six lawsuits against Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and the rest of its board, according to the company's annual 10-K report. Two lawsuits from Michigan pension funds allege Yang and the board breached their duties to shareholders when they rejected Microsoft's bid. Two of four California plaintiffs, however, allege the board erred by supposedly favoring Microsoft's unsolicited proposal. Almost 27 million Yahoo shares traded hands today. Why didn't these complainers just sell their shares? That seems easier.

Microsoft acquired Israeli ad-targeting firm YaData for $20-$30 million, according to reports. YaData's technology is supposed to help Microsoft discover "unique customer segments" — which sounds similar to what News Corp. has been doing with MySpace users, lumping them into demographic groups to get higher ad rates. For local VCs Giza and Ofer Hi-Tech, it simply translates to a jackpot. [PaidContent]

Google has hired investment banker George Boutros to tell it what to do about Microsoft's bid for Yahoo. Back in 2001, Wired magazine profiled Credit Suisse M&A man George Boutros. "Boutros is known in M&A circles as a briefcase slammer," Adam Lashinsky wrote. "The kind of negotiator who will do whatever it takes to make the other guy blink." In this case, that means spending $9 billion or more of Google's ever-growing cash pile.

What does AOL topper Randy Falco think of Microsoft's hostile Yahoo takeover? He hopes it bloodies both parties and Google, too. "I hope they beat each other's brains out over search and leave the display market to us," Falco said at the IAB conference. He cited the wisdom of a role model: "I think it's a mistake. But I think Napoleon said never interrupt your enemy when they're in the middle of making a mistake." Falco hasn't been this nasty since he mocked laid-off AOL employees last Christmas. What gives?

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello isn't content to sit idly by twiddling his thumbs until retirement. He'd rather spend as much as possible to keep his company relevant to the vanishing-attention-span generation of males whose spending pads his pension. They're interested in fast cars and sports — which makes Riccitiello keenly interested in EA rival Take-Two. Riccitiello has placed a $2 billion bid on Take-Two Interactive, the notorious publisher of the Grand Theft Auto series.

Microsoft exec Kevin Johnson wrote an email to his team today and later put a copy online. At 1,800 words, you'll never get through it in what's left of Friday. Here's the 100-word version:

Two Detroit-based pension funds representing police, firefighters and public employees filed suit against Yahoo, alleging CEO Jerry Yang and the company acted in bad faith by placing "personal distaste for Microsoft ahead of shareholder welfare" and pursuing "value destructive" alternatives. The suits follow another from the the Wayne County Employee's Retirement System of Michigan. Why don't they just sell their shares? That would be easier.

Microsoft platforms and services exec Kevin Johnson hates your Friday afternoon. That's why he chose 2 p.m. to "leak" the below memo to the SEC. Charming. Highlights: Johnson says Microsoft expects to complete the Yahoo acquisition by the second half of 2008. He also seems to promise that "while some overlap is expected in any combination of this size" layoffs will be limited. The rest, below.

RealNetworks purchased Macrovision's games business for $4 million. Last year, it bought a casual games site called Gametrust for about $20 million. It's all part of RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser's plan to be a player in casual games. Just like he planned to be a player in online music. You know, before Apple crushed him. Or like how he planned to be a player in online video. Before Adobe's Flash laid him low. We give Glaser this much credit: He keeps spotting opportunities. The best business plan going seems to be to watch what markets Glaser enters, follow him, and do a better job.

First Healtheon merged with WebMD. Then it spun off part of WebMD and changed its name to Emdeon. Then it changes its name to HLTH Corp. Now it's merging with WebMD in a cash-and-stock deal worth $2.31 billion. Got all that? The accounting for this must be almost as complicated as your average health-insurance explanation of benefits statement. [Wall Street Journal]

Sergey Brin told press gathered at the Googleplex yesterday that he finds Microsoft's Yahoo takeover attempt "unnerving." Because see, the Internet is meant to be wide open and not controlled by one powerful company, Brin told the AP.

A MarketWatch reporter pens a faux-advice letter from sailing-obsessed takeover king Larry Ellison to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. It's far too long to read the whole thing, so I'll do the work for you. Here's the 100-word version:

Microsoft's Yahoo bid is not the only one in trouble. The $2.2 billion offer for 3Com made by the private-equity firm Bain Capital and Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies is no longer on the table. The company has been unable to work out a compromise with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a federal panel which has the authority to recommend the White House block or alter terms of deals that involve national security. [AP]

At lunch today, I bought my very own Yahoo. It wasn't as pretty as Flickr, but it was del.icio.us. Cobblestones in Lowell, Mass., sells a Yahoo burger — a healthy serving of beef, cheese, barbecue sauce and onion strings. Steve Ballmer, why do you want to spend so much money for Yahoo when you can get this Yahoo for $10.99? Here's my proof of purchase.

How much will Yahoo's new severance package cost Microsoft, or any other acquirer? As much as $3 billion. [Silicon Alley Insider]

Microsoft will spend $40 billion on Yahoo for its people, Bill Gates told an audience at Stanford yesterday. "Yes, the advertisers and the number of end users is good," Gates said, "but we'd put the people and the engineering as the key thing." Well, if that's the case, Mr. Gates, here's the good news: Yahoo just laid off a portion of its engineers. They need jobs. And the rest? Their 2006 retention packages just vested. Your shareholders would prefer you make them an offer directly. (Photo by cackhanded)

Why is top talent fleeing Yahoo? Not because of Microsoft. BoomTown reports that back in late 2006, Yahoo launched "Project Engage," which included handing out retention packages full of option grants and restricted stocks units (RSUs). And guess what: Those packages didn't fully vest until February 2. That's the day after Microsoft announced its bid, sending Yahoo's shares skyrocketing just in time. Could Microsoft have timed its bid any better to bleed Yahoo? Says one Yahoo executive: "Everyone was just biding their time for the RSU to vest," one Yahoo exec said. "The Microsoft bid just gives everyone an excuse to leave." (Photo by cmccartney)

I once saw the first twenty of minutes of this horror movie. Can't remember the name. But it starts with a bunch of teenagers heading out on a road trip to the beach. As they merge onto the highway, a horrific pile-up goes down all around them. The camera hops around showing how each person dies. I remember, for example, a truck dropping a log from its flatbed trailer and the thing going through a windshield. Splat. Blood on broken glass. But then the main character snaps out of it and realizes it was all a dream. She and her friends are still waiting at the highway onramp. Scared witless, our protagonist refuses to drive on. And then, the car accident she presaged actually happens. Later, all the people who would have died in the accident gather at the police station. A creepy kid in the corner warns them: On this very day last year, some guy dreamed an airplane would go down and he and his friends refused to board. The airplane went down. He died anyway. So did all his friends. Creepy kid says: Death will get us all. Then for the rest of the movie it does. Anyway, don't know why I brought this up, but here's a list of names Yahoo executive Bradley Horowitz thanked on his way out.

Between February 1, when Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced his plans to plunder Yahoo, and February 15, Microsoft shares dropped 13 percent. This is bad news for the merged company's prospects. According to 2004 study, when the market immediately disapproves of a company's deal, 75 percent of the time, that company continues to underperform the market index for at least the next two years. (Photo by Jesper Ronn-Jensen)

Refusing to up his bid for Yahoo, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will this week begin in earnest a proxy fight — a direct appeal to shareholders, bypassing Yahoo management — for control of Yahoo's board. Sources told the New York Times Ballmer views a proxy fight — which could cost as much $30 million — as as a cheap alternative to raising the bid. Even a dollar increase over Microsoft's original $31 per share would cost the company $1.4 billion. That's a cost too high, considering Yahoo's entire board — already considered fractured — comes up for reelection this year, and nominations are being taken through March 14.