"Mr. Miller has been talking to private equity investors and sovereign wealth funds for months in hopes of raising money for a Yahoo deal, and it is unclear whether the talks have progressed or are just continuing, these people say.

"Mr. Miller believes he can do a deal that would be worth around $20 to $22 a share to Yahoo shareholders, these people say, which would involve raising about $28 billion to $30 billion to purchase the entire company.

...

"It is unclear whether Microsoft Corp., which has indicated that it is still open to doing some sort of deal with Yahoo, would be involved in any transaction."

It was unclear from the story what relationship, if any, these latest developments have to the weekend report, which described a complex transaction involving Microsoft, Yahoo, private investors, Miller and Ross Levinsohn, his partner in venture capital fund Velocity Interactive Group.

Levinsohn publicly called the Times of London story "total fiction."

But clearly, Miller, at least, has been involved in the ongoing Microsoft-Yahoo saga. The Journal reports he "has been a behind-the-scenes player in discussions between Yahoo and Microsoft for months, advising both sides on how to make a deal between the two companies work."