Sunnyvale, Calif. - Yahoo will add the former chief executive of Viacom, Frank Biondi Jr., and the former chief executive of Nextel Partners, John Chapple, to its board of directors from a list of nine possible new board members submitted by billionaire investor Carl Icahn. The addition of Biondi Jr. and Chapple is part of an agreement made to ward off a proxy fight with billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

Icahn has got a seat on the board earlier this year and to make way for the new directors, Robert Kotick, chief executive of video game maker Activision Blizzard Inc., has stepped down after five years on Yahoo's board. Icahn's list of possible board members also included Mark Cuban, who sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo in 1999; venture capitalist Adam Dell; Harvard Law professor Lucian Bebchuk; and co-CEO of New Line Cinema, Robert Shaye, according to The Associated Press.

"Frank's extensive experience in the entertainment and media industries, combined with John's deep management experience in telecommunications, will provide valuable perspectives to our already diverse board," Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock said in a statement.

Icahn owns 5 percent of Yahoo's shares. He originally started his campaign to replace the Internet company's entire board after it rejected Microsoft's $47.5 billion takeover bid in May.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080814/ap_on_hi_te/yahoo_board_12

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