“Verizon is pushing for a $1 billion discount off its pending $4.8 billion agreement to buy Yahoo, several sources told The Post exclusively,” reports our good friend, New York Post columnist Claire Atkinson.
Atkinson adds, “Yahoo revealed two weeks ago that it had been hacked in 2014 and that users names and passwords for 500 million accounts was swiped.
“Then, earlier this week, it was learned that Yahoo had been ordered by a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to scan emails for terrorist signatures.”
Atkinson then notes, “‘In the last day we’ve heard that Tim [Armstong, CEO of Verizon’s AOL, which is expected to be paired with Yahoo] is getting cold feet. He’s pretty upset about the lack of disclosure and he’s saying can we get out of this or can we reduce the price?’ said a source familiar with Verizon’s thinking.”
If I were running Verizon, I’d call the deal off immediately due to fraud, the sue Yahoo for every penny we’d spent preparing and entering the deal, and for huge penalties, too.