This story was a saga in 2008. (The related news today, of course, is Verizon Sells AOL and Yahoo to Apollo for $5B - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27024118).

Microsoft eyeing Yahoo (buyout) deal! - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19336 - May 2007 (25 comments)

Microsoft offers to buy Yahoo in $44.6 billion deal - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=107770 - Feb 2008 (3 comments)

Microsoft bids $44.6 billion for Yahoo - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=107771 - Feb 2008 (80 comments)

WOW. Microsoft Offers $44.6 Billion To Acquire Yahoo - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=107772 - Feb 2008 (2 comments)

Open-source silver lining in Microsoft's wedding vow to Yahoo? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=107874 - Feb 2008 (4 comments)

Yahoo-Microsoft merger bad news for startups? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=108099 - Feb 2008 (4 comments)

Source: Yahoo employees say "there is no way in hell that we are going to work for Microsoft." - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=108391 - Feb 2008 (6 comments)

Non-obvious winners and losers in Microsoft Yahoo Deal - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=108531 - Feb 2008 (1 comment)

Why Microsoft Acquiring Yahoo Could Suck For Everybody - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=108769 - Feb 2008 (7 comments)

Google's Chief Legal Officer on Microsoft's acquisition of Yahoo - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=108824 - Feb 2008 (5 comments)

Why Yahoo Should Say Yes To Microsoft - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=108873 - Feb 2008 (8 comments)

Google Offers to Help Yahoo Fight Off Microsoft - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=108949 - Feb 2008 (2 comments)

Google works to torpedo Microsoft bid for Yahoo - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=109346 - Feb 2008 (4 comments)

Silicon Valley after a Microsoft/Yahoo merger: a contrarian view - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=109612 - Feb 2008 (12 comments)

Redeye VC: Microsoft/Yahoo - let the exodus begin - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=110366 - Feb 2008 (8 comments)

Microsoft Adversary Rises Instinctively at Yahoo Bid - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=110392 - Feb 2008 (1 comment)

Microsoft Bid for Yahoo Drops To $29.50 a Share - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=110584 - Feb 2008 (1 comment)

My Opinion: Google wants Microsoft to buy Yahoo - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=112444 - Feb 2008 (3 comments)

Yahoo Board To Reject Microsoft Offer - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=112749 - Feb 2008 (44 comments)

Microsoft is 2000 times less effective than Google; Yahoo Board seems to be insane - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=112841 - Feb 2008 (17 comments)

Yahoo protects employees in case of Microsoft takeover - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=120372 - Feb 2008 (6 comments)

Yahoo sued for spurning Microsoft - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=122047 - Feb 2008 (19 comments)

Microsoft: Yahoo! has 3 weeks to decide - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=155833 - April 2008 (7 comments)

Yahoo tells Microsoft to increase $41B bid - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=156836 - April 2008 (10 comments)

The Yahoo!/Microsoft chess match continues: Yahoo! enters trial partnership with Google - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=159294 - April 2008 (6 comments)

Microsoft Said to Be Talking With News Corporation About Joint Yahoo Bid - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=159493 - April 2008 (3 comments)

Pmarca: If Microsoft goes fully hostile on Yahoo - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=175477 - April 2008 (27 comments)

Microsoft Says They’ll Pay More, increasing Yahoo! bid to as much as $33/share (from $31/share) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=177816 - April 2008 (3 comments)

Microsoft Withdraws Yahoo Bid; Walks Away From Deal - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=180517 - May 2008 (58 comments)

Yahoo shares fall 19.7 pct as Microsoft withdraws $44B bid - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=181422 - May 2008 (5 comments)

How Yahoo Blew the Microsoft Deal: Part 1 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=181885 - May 2008 (1 comment)

Battered Yahoo Admits It Overplayed Hand; Open To New Microsoft Talks - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=182085 - May 2008 (36 comments)

Why isn't anyone writing about Yahoo's amazing stock gains and Microsoft's plunge? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=182259 - May 2008 (5 comments)

Yahoo, Microsoft Back At The Table - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=193615 - May 2008 (10 comments)

Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, and Facebook: War of the Worlds II - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=194101 - May 2008 (2 comments)

What Yahoo doesn’t want you to know about the Microsoft deal - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=208276 - June 2008 (2 comments)

Why Yahoo Passed On Microsoft's Search Deal (New Details!) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=217178 - June 2008 (1 comment)

Microsoft Signals It Would Rather Talk To An Icahn-Controlled Yahoo - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=238583 - July 2008 (3 comments)

Yahoo spurns Microsoft again as blood boils - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=245059 - July 2008 (4 comments)

Yahoo tells Microsoft: 'Buy us' - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=355531 - Nov 2008 (19 comments)

Microsoft rules out Yahoo acquisition (again) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=356526 - Nov 2008 (4 comments)

Why Microsoft Should Bid Again — and Yahoo Should Accept - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=369671 - Nov 2008 (1 comment)

Microsoft Poaches Yahoo's Top Search Engineer; "the end of Yahoo search." - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=369908 - Nov 2008 (21 comments)

Why Microsoft should forget about Yahoo and buy Palm - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=442003 - Jan 2009 (18 comments)

Microsoft-Yahoo Deal Struck, Will Be Announced Within Next 24 Hours - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=729152 - July 2009 (22 comments)

Microsoft and Yahoo Reach Agreement on Search - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=729823 - July 2009 (24 comments)

Microsoft looking to buy Yahoo again - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3270790 - Nov 2011 (38 comments)

Yahoo Shares Top $31, The Price Microsoft Offered In 2008 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6414838 - Sept 2013 (49 comments)