Shares in Yahoo rose significantly this morning as investors wondered about the possibility of a buyout by Alibaba. Jack Ma, who has caused Yahoo no end of problems in the past, said during a visit to Stanford Friday he would be "interested" in purchasing Yahoo.
"We are probably one of the very few companies that really understand Yahoo USA very well," said Ma. Yahoo is a major investor in Ma's Alibaba (which in turn owns Yahoo China). Many industry watchers say Yahoo's stake in Chinese companies account for half of the company's overall worth -- so a purchase of Yahoo would be a bit like the tail wagging the dog.
It's not clear how or even if a Chinese company could purchase Yahoo outright, points out CNBC's Jon Fortt: "It would create its own set of headaches" says Fortt, as a Chinese company would own a major U.S. email provider.
Another factor could have been that Yahoo and ABC News made a deal where they will co-run news sites.
The partnership could, potentially, reach 100 million users via PCs and mobile devices. They already had a video sharing arrangement in place.
The partnership launches on Monday, Oct. 10, according to The Washington Post.
