Saturday was a big day for Microsoft and Yahoo, with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer offering about $33 a share for Yahoo, and Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang stating that the Yahoo board had concluded that undervalued Yahoo by about $4 a share. Microsoft decided to walk away.

A few hours earlier, about 1,700 miles away, Sue Decker, Chief Financial Officer of Yahoo, and Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft, who are both on the board of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, happened to be meeting in front of 30,000 people attending Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting. Given the momentous meeting between Ballmer and Yang that was to happen later in the day, I kind of wondered what they said to each other. Now I’ve found out:

Sue Decker: Should I kiss you hello? Or will people think we’re getting married?
Bill Gates: Don’t!
[stands up swiftly and shakes her hand]

According to Sue Decker, at the time she spoke to Bill Gates she thought Steve Ballmer would accept Yahoo’s higher asking price, and was surprised they didn’t. Here’s Sue Decker stating all of this and describing in insightful detail Yahoo’s past, present and future:

(http://edcorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1975)