Carl Icahn and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer may be in the process of tag-teaming Yahoo's board for control of the slumping internet giant, according to a report in TechCrunch.

In the opening salvo of his most recent bid for control of the company, Icahn sent a letter to Yahoo stockholders saying that he had spoken at length with Ballmer about resurrecting Microsoft's bid for Yahoo. 

Icahn, who is bringing his proxy fight to Yahoo's Aug. 1 shareholder meeting, appears to have enlisted some help from Ballmer, who said in a letter that he would not negotiate a deal with the current Yahoo board. Ballmer did, however, stop short of promising to revive the failed Microhoo talks, saying only that he would talk to a new board, presumably one installed by Icahn should he prevail in his proxy fight.

Yahoo, which has suffered through an executive exodus in the wake of the Microhoo meltdown, criticized both Ballmer and Icahn. In an open letter, Yahoo's board reiterated that it was ready to negotiate an acquisition with Microsoft. However, Yahoo has also reestablished merger talks with Time Warner, according to a Times Online report.

That story confirms at least one rumor from late last week that Yahoo was keen to strike a deal with Time Warner for AOL. But there has been no such confirmation on reports that Microsoft was considering a similar deal for AOL, or possibly for MySpace.

In the meantime, the lone bright spot for Yahoo, its search deal with Google, could be on hold pending a formal investigation by federal regulators.