Former head of AOL Jonathan Miller is looking to raise billions of dollars to buy all or part of Yahoo!, a person familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

Jonathan Miller's plans are a "long shot," but they do illustrate the fact that there is still interest in the search giant, the article stated. Miller ran AOL from 2002 to 2006.

Miller has contacted sovereign wealth fund and private equity investors for months, but sources said it is not clear how successful he has been, The Wall Street Journal reported in an article posted by The Australian. The deal is estimated to be worth US$20 to $22 per share, which adds up to between $28 billion to $30 billion, and possibly even as high as $46.6 billion, to buy the whole company.

The Wall Street Journal reported that top shareholders and board members were not aware of Miller's plans, and neither Miller nor his investment firm would comment, nor would a Yahoo! spokesman. Microsoft has also made it known it is still interested in partnering with Yahoo! on a search deal, but a spokesman from Microsoft declined to comment on whether it would be involved with Miller.

Miller is a partner at investment firm Velocity Interactive Group, which was part of talks between Microsoft and Yahoo! for months, advising the two on how to best make a deal work, according to The Wall Street Journal.