Report: Microsoft-Yahoo deal may go hostile today

SEATTLE -- Microsoft may go hostile in its bid for Yahoo as soon as Friday, according to a published report.

Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported early Friday that the world's largest software maker may be preparing to go straight to Internet pioneer Yahoo's shareholders.

"We're willing to pay for that at some level, and beyond that level we're not willing to pay for it. I know exactly what I think Yahoo is worth to me," the executive said. "I won't go a dime above, and I will go to what I think it's worth if that gets the deal done."

But he didn't offer a figure, and he didn't say whether Microsoft is considering raising its unsolicited bid, worth $44.6 billion at the time it was made in early February.

The offer is currently worth about $42.4 billion, or $29.48 per share, based on Microsoft's closing stock price Thursday. Yahoo has rejected the offer, saying it undervalues the company. Microsoft's board has been considering whether to raise the bid to as much as $33 per share, according to the Journal.

Ballmer didn't provide any new insight into the company's efforts to buy the Silicon Valley pioneer during the meeting at Microsoft's Redmond, Wash., headquarters, but he did indicate that an end to months of speculation was near.

"We ought to announce something in relatively short order," Ballmer told employees.

His comments were first reported by Silicon Alley Insider, an online technology news site, and confirmed by a Microsoft spokesman.

Ballmer added that buying Yahoo is just one of many moving parts in the software maker's strategy to compete with Google in search and Web advertising, and that if neither a friendly nor a hostile deal "look good," he's willing to walk away.