Unboxing Yahoo and 4 More Stories You Need to Know Today

UNPRYING EYES — President Obama will call for an end to one of the most contentious aspects of the NSA spying program, the New York Times reports. The proposal, if approved by Congress, would end the NSA's systematic bulk collection of data on Americans' calling habits. Phone companies would not be required to hold this data for longer than they normally do for business reasons — 18 months versus the five years the NSA retains it — and NSA requests would require a new kind of court order. The existence of the program was revealed by Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor now the guest of Russia. But a curious national-security-oriented coalition in Congress — which is already considering a hodge-podge of NSA legislation — means Obama's proposal is by no measure a sure thing.

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IVE GOT PLENTY OF NOTHING ... — When Marissa Mayer took over as as CEO of Yahoo the tech press swooned as it rarely does. But nearly two years years into her tenure, an argument is being made that Yahoo is not only worse off — but a basket case. Matthew C. Klein at Bloomberg writes that the value of Yahoo's holdings in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan exceeds its own market cap — which implies that its core business is worth less than nothing, even though the company's valuation has doubled under Mayer.

Alibaba is valued at about $153 billion, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Yahoo itself is worth about $39 billion as of this writing and this includes its ownership of about 24 percent of Alibaba. If you subtract that out you are left with a company that’s worth just a little more than $2 billion -- less than AOL Inc., Groupon Inc., or Zynga Inc.

Yahoo also has a 35 percent stake in Yahoo Japan, a publicly traded company now valued at about $32.3 billion. Subtract out Yahoo’s stake and this means that investors seem to value Yahoo’s own business at less than nothing -- not what you would expect from a profitable enterprise.

Klein concedes that Yahoo's holdings might be overvalued, or that Yahoo's shares are undervalued. "Or maybe the markets have it right and Yahoo’s business is hopeless."

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... AND NOTHING'S PLENTY FOR ME — Box is going public, but the chatter surrounding the cloud company's IPO isn't so much about that ho-hum $2 billion valuation and no expectation of profitably "for the foreseeable future" angle. For better or worse, that's not unusual for tech startups taking it to the next level. What is unusual is CEO Aaron Levie's seemingly tiny equity stake: 4.1%. Anyone who's watches Shark Tank knows that giving up too much equity (or cash flow, Mr. Wonderful) too early in your company's life is generally not a good idea. But the choice for entrepreneurs between settling for a little of what could become a big deal — or keeping a lot of nothing — is seldom clear-cut. Techcrunch unpacked Box's numbers and sees this instance as a prime example of the former.

The 28-year-old CEO, known for his frequent magazine covers and red converse sneakers, has never seemed scared of bold moves. Now we know Levie bet that 4.1 percent of a winning startup would be worth much more than 30 percent of a losing one. So would building a big company that employs many and makes work easier for millions rather than being greedy. If Box’s IPO goes well, he may be proven right.

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TRIAL, NO ERROR — Bernie Madoff has always maintained he worked alone to run the ponzi scheme which defrauded clients of $20 billion (and $48 billion more in non-existent profits). But keeping all those plates spinning seems like a lot for just one man, especially one who is, shall we say, truth-challenged. For the first time, co-conspirators have been found guilty of crimes related to the massive scam, in what was the first criminal trial stemming from the case. A jury has convicted five of Madoff's hand-picked employees of all 31 counts of various fraud counts after one of the longest trials in Manhattan federal court. "The evidence was just overwhelming," juror Craig Parise told reporters as he left the courthouse. The case blew open in December 2008; the 75-year-old Madoff pleaded guilty to fraud charges the following March and is serving a 150-year jail sentence. Four years ago, Madoff's son committed suicide.

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PRYING EYES — If shelling out $1,500 for dorky specs is the only reason you're not already sporting Google Glasses, maybe a little tortoise shell will change your mind. Luxottica, the Switzerland-based mega name in eyewear frames, is joining forces with Google to spiff up the look of the wearables. So far the deal extends only to its Ray-Ban and Oakley brands. But Luxotica also licenses Burberry, Chanel and Paul Smith, as well as its own Persol and Oliver Peoples lines. No word on how much fancy frames might add to Glass's pricetag, or when the interminable wait for wraparounds and aviators will end.

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