The tech world has been hearing rumblings and whispers that Microsoft wanted to add Yahoo to its fold, but now it's official: Big Evil wants it bad.

The announcement came out of nowhere this morning, with a barrage of reports that The Empire has offered more than $44,000,000,000 for the sagging search site. Details are not immediately available, but the deal is reportedly $31 per share, well over the stock's selling price, and will involve both cash and stock. No word yet on whether Yahoo was anticipating the offer, or what reaction its shareholders may have.

With recent trends at the company, a sixty-four percent profit has to be looking pretty good, even if the buyer is twirling its mustache and tying helpless users to the tracks. Stay tuned for more.

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UPDATE: The London Times is reporting that Microsoft approached Yahoo late last night with an offer for a "friendly takeover," but was rejected. The offer has pushed Yahoo's stock up more than 50%, and boosted the US stock indexes in pre-opening trading. Read more.

ROUND 2: The Guardian has now published the text of Microsoft's offer letter to Yahoo's Board. Don't miss the part where Ballmer reminds them of Microsoft's previous buyout offer, and tells the Board that "A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved." Read the full text.

ROUND 3: Ballmer has now held a conference call outlining Microsoft's motives and modus operandi. It's apparently all about scale(s) — something we'd expect Satan's Little Helper to have plenty of. Read all about it.

ROUND 4: CNET is now chiming in with an analysis of the potential implications on Open Source. Read more.