Google has turned to one of the technology world's most controversial figures - once arrested and put on trial - for advice in the takeover battle between Microsoft and Yahoo.
Chief executive Eric Schmidt has reportedly called in newly formed investment group Qatalyst — headed by Silicon Valley banker Frank Quattrone. Quattrone, who has long associations with Google, is best known as the high-profile investment banker with Credit Suisse who was involved in some of the biggest stock market flotations of the 1990s internet boom — including Amazon and Netscape.
He has been dogged by controversy amid allegations that he was involved in boosting shares of companies he was advising. He was arrested in 2003 for obstruction of justice and was eventually convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison. That conviction was overturned after an appeal and last year the last charges against him were dropped on condition that he does not break the law for a year.
His company, which was formed last month, will provide guidance to Google on the prospects for Microsoft's $42bn (£21bn) bid to buy Yahoo. With Yahoo resisting the approach, the deal is becoming increasingly complex. According to reports this week, the battle could even set the internet's biggest companies against one another — with Microsoft and News Corp potentially joining forces to take on an alliance of Yahoo, Google and AOL.
Quattrone is not the first controversial figure from the dotcom boom to go through rehabilitation and return to the industry. He joins former securities analyst Henry Blodget, who became notorious for his role in inflating the dotcom bubble. As an internet adviser at Merrill Lynch, Blodget was accused of playing up the prospects for stock in companies he was involved in, leading to a high-profile fraud case.
Although Blodget made a settlement in the case and was subsequently given a lifetime ban from working in the securities industry, he now runs a dotcom consultancy and is the founder of the influential Silicon Alley Insider news blog.
guardian.co.uk
0 comments:
Post a Comment