Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is not only an apish buffoon, but he also apparently lacks a backbone. It was revealed today in a letter to Yahoo shareholders written by “activist investor” Carl Icahn that Ballmer expressed fears that the current Yahoo board—hostile to a takeover by Microsoft—could put the huge bounty needed for the acquisition into question.

“If and when a transaction is consummated,” Icahn’s letter states of Ballmer’s acquisition logic, “Microsoft would be guaranteeing a great deal of capital at closing.

However, a transaction could take at least nine months...