For people following the MCI sweepstakes, this week is providing yet another interesting twist to the story. The latest thickening of the plot: in what some believe to be an astute move by Verizon (NYSE:VZ), the company offered Carlos Slim, the largest shareholder of MCI, as much as $25.72 for each of Slim's 43.4 million shares.  This is a significant premium over what other MCI shareholders will receive from Verizon (which has agreed to buy MCI for $23.10). Moreover, Verizon's MCI shareholder offer was constituted by 60 percent cash and 40 percent stock, whereas Mr. Slim got paid fully in cash.

The thinking was probably to buy off and silence the largest shareholder, in order to avoid further shareholder dissent.  But it might backfire, as some MCI shareholders are upset.  Here is exhibit A from Bill Miller of Legg Mason (via Light Reading):

This reminds me of George Orwell's Animal Farm famous quote: "'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".  In order to win MCI, Verizon will have to ultimately sweeten their offer to the rest of MCI's shareholders, and get it pretty close to the deal extended to Slim. There is legal precedent for suing boards of directors when they let different classes of shareholders be taken out at different prices, so there will be pressure coming to both the MCI board and Verizon. Furthermore, there has also been some speculation that Qwest will raise its bid to $30 a share, or change its composition (50 percent cash, 50 percent stock). So we still have not heard the final chapter of this story... stay tuned!