Recount Shows Mis-Mathematics at Yahoo

Come on, for gosh sakes. Big-time IT folks like those in power at Yahoo are supposed to know how to add and subtract. They’re also supposed to be able to tell the truth, for legal and moral reasons, if nothing else.

Some key investors smelled a rat on Monday after the company revealed the results of last Friday’s up-or-down board shareholders’ vote for/against the current board and CEO Jerry Yang. So a recount was conducted yesterday (Aug. 5). Sure enough, the numbers from the independent auditor were way different from the ones Yahoo itself presented following the meeting in San Jose.

Reuters tech writer Eric Auchard reported today that Yahoo revised its vote tallies following the recount by outside vote tabulator Broadridge Financial Solutions, a New York-based financial services company that does securities clearing and processing. The revised numbers showed only a 66.3 favorable vote for Yang, as opposed to an 85 percent vote the first time. Cheesy, really.

The shareholder vote is no mandate, by the way — it’s simply an advisory to the board and the company as a whole. Nobody will be stepping down anytime soon, although Carl Icahn and two other new members will soon be joining the board to bring even more mayhem into the picture.

The mathematical voting error may eventually be explained. But until it is, Yahoo’s credibility suffers a body blow that is not helping its fragile image.