Alibaba seeks Yahoo CEO after talks, insider says

HONG KONG / SAN FRANCISCO - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Japan's Softbank Corp will go directly to Yahoo Inc's chief executive, bypassing negotiators from the US Internet company. That's after talks over the sale of Yahoo's Asian holdings broke down, a person familiar with the negotiations said on Wednesday.

The struggling Internet company has been in discussions to sell its stakes in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan back to Alibaba and Yahoo Japan shareholder Softbank.

But the person, who declined to be identified because the talks are confidential, said that Softbank and Alibaba will go directly to Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson for more clarity after talks broke down over the terms on Tuesday. The person said Yahoo's negotiating team seemed to have different ideas from the company's leaders.