No one bit… in time. By the time some of the legal departments of those companies got back to me, I had won the case and was wondering why I was sweating in the first place.

Fast forward 2 years and Jerry Yang is on the verge of losing his company, too. Well, it’s technically shareholders’ company, but Jerry does not think so. From Feb 1 2008 until about a few minutes ago, I thought Jerry was wrong in not caring about what his shareholders wanted (to accept MSFT’s offer), but seeing him on the verge of securing a potential exit by way of a merger with AOL, I think that I actually understand Jerry. You know what, sure, he sold a massive chunk of his company to the public… but so what? It’s his company until the Board or shareholders take it away from him. And so far, neither the former nor the latter have dared do that… so guess what, if Jerry will try to maintain independence from MSFT, then so be it. It’s his right. Sure, it’s not really adhering to his fiduciary duty to shareholders, but welcome to the real world. If you don’t like it, go teach a class at your favorite B-School.

I’m not saying I agree with how Jerry has handled things, but guess what, a lot of people thought I was crazy when I entered the courthouse on June 16 2006 representing myself in a court of law against a legal machine. I won not because anyone else thought I’d win… I won because I believed I would win.

In the end: that’s what business and entrepreneurship is all about. This Jerry Yang was MIA from 1995 (when Yahoo! hired Motorola executive Tim Koogle) to February 1 2008. Even when Jerry took over for Terry Semel and launched his 100-day crusade to no-man’s-land, I don’t think anyone thought Jerry had a clue… but I must say… say what you want about his not honoring his fiduciary duty, this Jerry I like: a fighter, a resilient never-say-never fighter.

I like that. I remain long on Yahoo (about 12.5% of my stake as at Feb 1 2008), but even if I owned 100% of what I owned two months ago, Jerry is reminding me why I decided to start a company myself… though admittedly, he’s also reminding me why owning stock in a publicly-traded company plays second fiddle to being your own boss.

Mind you, seeing him go through this reminds me: don’t ever lose control… and don’t sell out unless you have to, I mean absolutely have to.

This is finally getting interesting. When I decided to keep some shares, I did so for the same reason a bettor keeps some money in the game: for entertainment value. I must admit: Jerry’s providing us some of that now, finally.

Here’s to hoping he doesn’t lose his mojo if and when he pushes MSFT back. Enjoy it while you can, cause a victory against MSFT will translate to a surefire lawsuit from investors. But you can worry about that in the morning… tonight, we torch the campus!