Jack Ma: Make up your mind, Yahoo

YAHOO   ALIBABA   JACK MA

Hong Kong - "Yes, I would like to buy the entire company," said Alibaba chairman and CEO Jack Ma when asked if he was interested in acquiring struggling internet giant Yahoo.

"We’re just waiting for the Yahoo board to tell us what they want to do."

Ma made the comments at the inaugural AsiaD conference in Hong Kong today (20 October), where he described Yahoo as a great brand that is "so important" to the internet industry.

“We’ve been working with Yahoo for years to buy a portion of them or to buy them out. Money is not a problem. The problem is what Yahoo wants to do.”

Ma said a change in management would be likely if the deal was to proceed. But he warned any slow decision making from Yahoo may alter the outcome.

"In this environment, all beautiful flowers withdraw very quick," Ma said. "Time is so precious for all of us."

Ma's interview followed an earlier interview with Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and Rose Tsou, senior vice president of Yahoo Asia Pacific.

Yang, who described Yahoo as a "premier digital media company" said it still had many positive things going for it. 

“We really do believe there is a path for Yahoo that can be better and higher growth,” he said.

Yang said that this did not necessarily mean selling the company. 

“The intent is to look at all the options.”

The AsiaD conference runs until tomorrow.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Festival of Media Asia

The Festival of Media Asia is coming to Singapore in November in partnership with Marketing Magazine.

For speaker information and event details see the site festivalofmedia.com/asia