The social network is ailing. Five top executives have quit, including a co-founder who is starting a competitor. And the company is buying employees’ stock–which it can ill afford. Facebook needs to sign up a few rich friends if it’s to avoid becoming Silicon Valley history.

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Former AOL boss Steve Case virtually fled to his Hawaiian pineapple farm after the AOL-Time Warner merger he engineered in 2000 vaporized much of the group’s combined market value. Now that Liberty Media chairman John Malone is open to swapping his 2.8 percent stake in Time Warner for AOL’s dial-up business, the extent of Case’s heroics on behalf of AOL shareholders has become clearer.

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Everyone assumed Microsoft was the loser when it handed Facebook a $15 billion valuation. But reports that Facebook insiders are trying to dump shares at a huge discount to that may highlight the danger of high expectations at a very young age.

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If companies can resemble people, Facebook looks like the awkward teen nearing the end of a growth spurt. Last month it blew by competitor MySpace in terms of unique visitors worldwide. But it still makes far less money than News Corp.’s network. Why? Facebook is following the YouTube model for growth.

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Microsoft is giving a good reason not to Google. The software giant announced a new search model that sees advertisers paying only after a sale and rewards shoppers with cash-back incentives. This is an attractive deal for both advertisers and consumers. But the rewards for shareholders don’t seem so obvious.

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Carl Icahn just stepped into the Yahoo fray–he’s reportedly accumulated 3.5% of the Internet company’s stock. If he can nominate a few directors in the two remaining days before Yahoo’s deadline for filing nominees to its board, the road ahead may not be all that difficult.

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Blame the launch of Take-Two’s Grand Theft Auto IV for long lines at video game hawkers today. It’s expected to bring in some $400 million this week alone. The company has held Electronic Arts, its hostile suitor, at arm’s length since February, awaiting the game’ s debut. That now looks smart. Big anticipated revenues from the virtual testosterone-fueled rampage should give it an edge in negotiations.

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Steve Ballmer isn’t a man renowned for his temperance. Yet the Microsoft boss, who was once accused by a former employee of throwing a chair across the room when he defected to Google, has up to now shown remarkable restraint in his quest to land Yahoo. Today marks one month since Microsoft pitched its offer, initially valued at nearly $45 billion, to buy the Internet company. How much longer can Mr. Ballmer go without a tantrum?

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