During proceedings in a shareholder lawsuit against Yahoo's board, Microsoft lawyers said that the company has set aside $1.5 billion to retain Yahoo employees. This cash is separate from a Yahoo board-approved severance package that guarantees two years' pay to anybody laid off after a change in control. Already, two-thirds of our readers said they would prefer to see Yahoo merge with Microsoft instead of AOL. Sources confirm the sentiment is similar inside of Yahoo. (Photo, "Free Man's Prison," by code_martial)

Contact information for this author is not available.