Top investor leaning against Yahoo board: report

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc's (YHOO.O) biggest investor, Capital Research, has told Chief Executive Jerry Yang it may vote against Yahoo's board in the upcoming proxy fight, the blog AllThingsD reported on Monday.

Kara Swisher reported on her Wall Street Journal-affiliated blog that Capital Research portfolio manager Gordon Crawford met Yang face-to-face last Tuesday in Los Angeles and said he was "seriously considering" voting against Yahoo's board at its August 1 annual meeting.

At the meeting, Yang, together with Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and board members Ron Burkle and Gary Wilson, defended recent reorganization moves and the need to control its search business rather than selling it to Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O).

After walking away from its unsolicited takeover offer in early May, Microsoft later unsuccessfully sought to strike a partial deal with Yahoo that would involve buying Yahoo's search advertising business and taking a stake in the company.

"Crawford and his top analysts aggressively questioned Yang's assertions and pressed him on Yahoo's strategy going forward," the AllThingsD story said.

Two Capital Research funds hold about 16.3 percent of Yahoo shares, according to March filings.

Separately on Monday, Microsoft said it would be willing to reopen talks to buy all or part of Yahoo, but not with current management or the existing board, in a major boost for investor Carl Icahn's alternative slate of directors.

Shares of Yahoo closed up 12 percent at $23.91 on Nasdaq on Monday.

(Reporting by Eric Auchard; Editing by Braden Reddall)