LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Internet giant Yahoo has appointed two new directors from a dissident slate put together by shareholder Carl Icahn, the San Jose Mercury News reported on Friday.
The two directors are Frank Biondi Jr., 63, former chief executive of Viacom and Universal Studios, and John Chapple, 55, former chief executive of Nextel Partners, according to the paper.
They were chosen for their extensive experience in the media and telecommunication industries, the report said.
"We are pleased to add people of Frank's and John's caliber to our board," Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock said in a press release published by the paper.
Ichan put forward the slate during his attempt to take control of the Internet giant through an aborted proxy battle after Yahoo rejected Microsoft's buyout offer.
Yahoo agreed to make the appointments in exchange for Icahn dropping his proxy challenge. Icahn himself was appointed to the board immediately following the annual meeting Aug. 1. He replaced Robert Kotick, who resigned.
Icahn tried but failed to get Yahoo to replace other board members in order to increase his leverage and try to sell the company to Microsoft. In a compromise, Yahoo agreed to expand the board from nine to 11 people.
Biondi and Chapple are potential, but not certain, allies for Icahn. Biondi was Icahn's candidate to replace Richard Parsons as chief executive of Time Warner during Icahn's unsuccessful proxy fight with the media giant in 2006. At the time, Icahn said he had only met Biondi once before.
Biondi is currently a senior managing director of WaterView Advisors, a private equity firm, and Chapple is president of Hawkeye Investments.
