Yahoo Investor Tells It to Stop Wasting Money

January 15, 2016, 2:23 PM UTC
Fortune Global Forum 2015
FORTUNE GLOBAL FORUM Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015 2015 FORTUNE GLOBAL FORUM San Francisco, CA, USA 2:40 - 3:20 pm LEADING THE 21ST CENTURY CORPORATION With disruptive business models, increasingly complex product sets, and fast-moving global markets, corporate culture is more important than ever. The leaders of two of Silicon Valley’s most dynamic companies explain how they are leading in such critical times. Panelists: Marc Benioff, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Salesforce Marissa Mayer, President and CEO, Yahoo Moderator: Adam Lashinsky, Fortune Photograph by Noah Berger/Fortune Global Forum
Photograph by Stuart Isett — Fortune Global Forum

Canyon Capital Advisors sent a new letter to Yahoo’s (YHOO) board on Thursday, asking it not to waste any further capital and to prioritize a sale of its core business, a portion of its assets, or the entire company.

Canyon, a Los Angeles-based investment firm and a Yahoo shareholder, wrote in a letter seen by Reuters that the Internet company’s board and management team have spent in excess of $3 billion on acquisitions to which, based on the its stock price, the market appears to ascribe absolutely no, or negative, value.

“We believe the board must explicitly and publicly commit to preserve the company’s most easily valued asset—its cash,” Canyon wrote in the letter, which cited media reports as examples of what it argued was the company’s largesse.

Yahoo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Canyon’s latest letter came after activist investor Starboard Value last week ramped up pressure on Yahoo, taking aim at CEO Marissa Mayer and her leadership team and raising the prospect that a proxy battle is approaching.

Canyon also sent letters to Yahoo on Dec. 3 and Dec. 11. Yahoo is currently pursuing a tax-free spinoff of its core internet business, which could take at least a year.

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