(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace) -- As the deadline of Saturday imposed by Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) for Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) to enter discussions on the former’s buyout bid quickly approaches, Microsoft has been issuing ambiguous comments as to whether it still wants to acquire Yahoo, leaving many to wonder whether the deal is being abandoned.

This new round of speculation was set off as a result of Microsoft’s fiscal third-quarter earnings report on Thursday that showed the company’s net income declined by 11 percent.

Yet a company spokesman attempted to give a positive spin to the results:

“Our third-quarter results demonstrate the benefit of our diversified business model,” said Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell in a company statement.

“Our broad span across geographies, product categories and customer segments is a tremendous asset and supports our outlook for double-digit revenue, operating income and earnings per share growth for this fiscal year and also for fiscal year 2009,” he added.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, however, Mr Liddell appeared to be preparing investors for the abandonment of Microsoft’s plan to buy Yahoo.

"Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell seemed to be preparing Wall Street for the prospect of a deal's not happening. Mr. Liddell said 'speed is of the essence' in completing a deal, but the process 'has been anything but speedy,'" The Journal reported in an article on Friday.

This raises the question as to whether the company’s Board of Directors are pulling the plug on the buyout bid because of the company’s disappointing earnings.

NewsVisual created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map that illustrates the business connections among Microsoft’s Directors in order to determine whether they are prepared to meet the company’s challenges.

The Knowledge Map shows that Microsoft’s board is extremely diverse in terms of the number of different industries represented.

For example, besides the software and computer industries, Microsoft Directors have experience in several other industries: Director Dina Dublon is the former CFO of JPMorgan Chase; Director Raymond Martin is the former Chairman/President/CEO Merck & Co; Director Reed Martin is the Founder/Chairman/CEO of Netflix; and Director Charles Noski is the former Vice-Chairman AT&T Corp.