Professor Joseph A. Grundfest is quoted in a Dow Jones article about the possibility of a proxy fight to unseat some of Yahoo Inc.'s directors, and how Microsoft would react to that:

"It's perfectly rational for Microsoft to continue with its current position and wait to see what happens. Is it really necessary for Carl to know what Steve and Bill are thinking?" noted Joseph Grundfest, professor of law and co-director of the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford Law School.

...

Grundfest said the situation recalls the battle between Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and BEA Systems Inc., in which Oracle walked away for its initial offer but ultimately reached an agreement with BEA earlier this year after Icahn pushed the two companies back into talks.

"If one believes that history is prologue, then one could look at the spread between Microsoft's last bid and Yahoo's last demand and figure that maybe there is a deal to be done halfway between the two."