“如果繼續(xù)一意孤行，我們認(rèn)為做錯事的代價會過于巨大。”雅虎股東Starboard發(fā)出了“威脅”。

“你在跟我開玩笑嗎？！”也許只有這句內(nèi)心潛臺詞，才最能體現(xiàn)出瑪麗莎·梅耶爾當(dāng)下的沮喪心情了。去年，對沖基金公司Starboard Value購入大量雅虎（Yahoo）股份，并敦促雅虎出售所持有的大量阿里巴巴（Alibaba）和雅虎日本股權(quán)。梅耶爾被迫照辦，公司一整年都在籌備這次大規(guī)模的拆分。但這么做又會讓雅虎面臨沉重的稅負(fù)——這已不是什么秘密了。

然而，Starboard認(rèn)為這一風(fēng)險實在太高，于是改變了主意。他們最近給雅虎發(fā)送了公開信，要求公司不要拆分股票。如今，Starboard希望雅虎繼續(xù)持有阿里巴巴和雅虎日本的股票，轉(zhuǎn)而出售雅虎自身境況不佳的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)業(yè)務(wù)。換句話說，雅虎股東持有的公司，將變成一個僅擁有兩家企業(yè)股份的空殼以及55億美元的現(xiàn)金，而這兩家公司的股票本來就可以通過公開市場獲得，由此，雅虎將沒有任何實際業(yè)務(wù)。

激進投資者總是對雅虎吹毛求疵，而他們自己也沒有什么好辦法。這些喜歡吸引眼球、愛寫公開信、只注重短期收益的人總是指手畫腳，若要平息他們的吵鬧，就會遇到問題。不論他們的要求是否合理，即便你滿足了，可能也仍然不夠。他們還會改變想法！這樣的爭執(zhí)沒有機會獲勝，也幾乎不會結(jié)束。

Starboard是梅耶爾遭遇的第二個激進的投資者對手，她曾在2013年設(shè)法搞定了Third Point的丹·羅伯。

那么，Starboard為什么改變主意呢？誰又會購買雅虎的核心業(yè)務(wù)？這兩個問題的答案分別是稅費和持懷疑論的買家。

首先是稅費。雅虎計劃拆分市值240億美元的阿里巴巴和雅虎日本的股份，他們從這些成功的早期投資中獲得了大量資本收益，拆分股份可以減少為此所交的稅費。由于美國國稅局（IRS）對雅虎的交易計劃能否免除數(shù)十億美元的稅款遲遲不表態(tài)，雅虎剝離其持有的15%阿里巴巴股份的進程將推遲到明年1月甚至更晚來進行。如果雅虎決定無論如何也要繼續(xù)拆分，那他們有可能要繳納數(shù)十億美元稅費。Starboard認(rèn)為承擔(dān)這樣的風(fēng)險并不值得，就開始對雅虎施壓。

在給雅虎的公開信中，Starboard表示：“如果繼續(xù)一意孤行，我們認(rèn)為做錯事的代價會過于巨大。”

Starboard建議雅虎繼續(xù)持有阿里巴巴和雅虎日本的股份，轉(zhuǎn)而實施這家投資機構(gòu)一年多以前提出的設(shè)想：為其不斷萎縮的核心業(yè)務(wù)尋找下家，以此獲得高達(dá)10億美元的成本協(xié)同效應(yīng)。去年，Starboard曾建議雅虎與美國在線（AOL）合并，但后者最終同意被威瑞森（Verizon）收購。在這次的公開信中，Starboard沒有提出可供選擇的合并對象。

其次是持懷疑論的買家。Starboard通過計算得出的結(jié)論是，市場對雅虎核心業(yè)務(wù)的估值僅有20億美元。雅虎有46億美元的收入，仍是全球第五大網(wǎng)站，但這一估值（或是把這一估值翻個兩三倍）表明，投資者已經(jīng)不認(rèn)為雅虎還能繼續(xù)增長，不相信它會在未來創(chuàng)造更大價值了。買家會把公司搶到手，將其拆成很多部分，解雇大量員工，即便如此也能掙到錢。這種極度悲觀懷疑的行為方式就能把雅虎搞垮。

過去十年中，雅虎先后有五位首席執(zhí)行官走馬上任，公司被新聞界、股東和激進投資者折磨得體無完膚。他們的每一次轉(zhuǎn)型嘗試都遭到了大聲嘲笑。無論潛力如何，梅耶爾最近一次的轉(zhuǎn)型還沒結(jié)束。但據(jù)Recode報道，對梅耶爾戰(zhàn)略上的抨擊甚至讓她失去了高管層信任。此時此刻，看上去只有她一個人認(rèn)為雅虎還能被拯救。

針對Starboard公開信一事，雅虎并未應(yīng)《財富》要求立即發(fā)表評論。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：嚴(yán)匡正

“If you stay on the current path, we believe the potential penalty for being wrong is just too great,” Starboard wrote in its letter to Yahoo.

On a scale of one to “Are you KIDDING me?!,” how frustrated must Marissa Mayer be feeling today? Hedge fund Starboard Value took a large stake in Yahoo last year, urging the company to sell its large holdings in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. Mayer obliged, and the company has been working on the massive spin-off all year.It’s no secret that Yahoo’s long-planned spinoff of its valuable Alibaba stake comes with the risk of a hefty tax bill.

But last night, Starboard changed its mind. The company sent a letter to Yahoo (read it here), urging it not to spin off the stakes. Now, Starboard wants Yahoo to hold the Alibaba and Yahoo Japan stakes, but sell Yahoo. In other words, Yahoo shareholders would own an empty shell for the stock of two companies that they can already access directly through the public markets, plus $5.5 billion in cash. The company would have no operating business.

Activist investors have picked over Yahoo so much that they’ve run out of good ideas. This is the problem with appeasing a group of headline grabbing, letter-writing, short-term focused meddlers – even if you give them what they want, regardless of whether it makes sense, it probably won’t be enough. Or they could change their minds! There might be no way to win and it might never end. Starboard is Mayer’s second bout with activist investors; she managed to shake off Third Point’s Dan Loeb in 2013.

So why did Starboard change its mind, and who would possibly buy Yahoo’s core business? The answers, respectively, are taxes and a very cynical buyer.

First, taxes: Yahoo’s proposed $24 billion spin-off of Alibaba and Yahoo Japan was designed to limit the taxes that Yahoo would have to pay on the massive capital gains it earned on those very successful early stage investments. But the IRS denied its request for prior approval, and Yahoo has decided to go along with the plan anyway, risking that it will have to pay billions in taxes. Starboard has decided the risk isn’t worth it.

The activist pressure comes on the heels of news that the spinoff of Yahoo’s 15% stake in Alibaba would be delayed until January, if not later, as the IRS has declined to ruleon whether or not the sale would result in a multibillion dollar tax bill for Yahoo.

“If you stay on the current path, we believe the potential penalty for being wrong is just too great,” Starboard wrote in its letter to Yahoo.

Starboard is advocating that Yahoo hold on to its stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan and instead move forward with an idea the activist investor first floated more than a year ago: Yahoo should find a partner for its shrinking core business in order to lock in as much as $1 billion in cost synergies. Last year, Starboard pushed Yahoo to consider a merger with AOL, but that company later agreed to be sold to Verizon. Starboard did not present an alternative merger partner in its letter.

Second: A cynical buyer. Starboard has calculated that the market is only valuing Yahoo’s core business at $2 billion. Yahoo has $4.6 billion in revenue and remains the fifth-largest website in the world. But that price (or a low multiple of it), says investors have given up on any hope of Yahoo ever growing or creating value in the future. A buyer could snap it up, strip its various parts, lay off a huge chunk of its staff, and still make money on the deal. That would be a very cynical way to kill the company.

For the last decade, Yahoo has gone through five CEOs and been battered by the press, investors, and activist investors. Each new turnaround attempt has been met with even louder derision. Regardless of its potential, Mayer’s latest turnaround narrativehas not stuck. In another blow to her strategy, Mayer has even lost the faith of her top executives,according to Recode. And at this point, it’s starting to look like she is the only one who thinks Yahoo can be saved.

Yahoo did not immediately respond to Fortune‘s request for comment on the Starboard lette.