Rumors that News Corp. might be interested in buying Yahoo were put to rest yesterday when Rupert Murdoch told analysts he had no interest in getting into a bidding war with Microsoft for the struggling internet giant.

"We are definitely not going to make a bid on Yahoo," TheStreet.com quoted Murdoch as saying. "Historically, we've done better with start-ups than with purchases."

Late last week, Microsoft made a hostile bid to buy Yahoo for $44 billion. Since then, Murdoch and rival Google have been identified as potential alternatives for the slumping company. 

The news also set in motion rumors that Time Warner might try to sell AOL. Murdoch said he had no interest in AOL, either.