UPDATE 1-Icahn slams Yahoo board on severance plan
(Adds more comments from Icahn, background)
NEW YORK, June 10 (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn on Tuesday threatened to hold Yahoo Inc's (YHOO.O) board "personally liable" for approving an employee severance plan that he thinks was a main reason Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) walked away from striking a deal to buy the online media company.
"If they continue with this line, I believe they may be personally liable," said Icahn in an interview following a speech to the New York Financial Writers' Association.
On May 3, Microsoft walked away after making a verbal $33-per-share offer worth around $47.5 billion, with Yahoo demanding $37 a share.
Icahn is pressing for Yahoo to reopen talks to sell itself to Microsoft, but Yahoo has resisted Icahn's efforts.
Icahn's statements represent an escalation of the acrimonious proxy battle that he launched in response to Yahoo's failure to reach an agreement to be bought by Microsoft.
Icahn in recent weeks has criticized Yahoo's severance plan, saying that its cost, estimated at $2.4 billion, was one of the reasons that Microsoft walked away.
"They put in a severance plan that is just a complete and total travesty," Icahn said. "I believe 'personally liable' might apply to this board."
"These board members get $10,000 a week to go to a few boondoggle meetings," Icahn said during the speech and called their actions "reprehensible."
Funds controlled by Icahn, a veteran of activist shareholder campaigns, hold about 59 million shares and options, or 4.28 percent of Yahoo, as of June 7. (Reporting by Dane Hamilton; Writing by Dane Hamilton and Robert MacMillan; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
