People told The Wall Street Journal that Yahoo’s board is expected to discuss its options in sessions that will begin on Wednesday and continuing through Friday. Though, Ms. Mayer has been known for stabilizing the condition of the company which was on steep decline before her rule, no advancement has been made by Yahoo during the three year leadership of Ms. Mayer.
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The board’s meeting comes amid a broader debate about the future of the company and that of high-profile Chief Executive Marissa Mayer.
The obvious candidates to purchase Yahoo’s internet business include telecommunications and media companies as well as private equity firms.
In September, Yahoo’s plans for the spinoff of its stake in Alibaba hit a roadblock when the U.S. Internal Revenue Service denied a request to bless the transaction as a tax-free deal.
The WSJ report comes less than two weeks after activist investor Starboard Value sent a letter to Mayer and Yahoo Chairman Maynard Webb urging them to call off the proposed spinoff of Yahoo’s Alibaba stake, saying that move carries “potential significant risk”.
At the same time, Yahoo’s stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan – a joint venture with Japanese internet group Softbank – have ballooned in value. A string of Yahoo executives have recently jumped ship, and Yahoo has reportedly hired consulting firm McKinsey and Co. to help craft a companywide reorganization.
Yahoo’s core business is shrinking, but it still represents some of the most visited services on the Web.
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Bob Lord took on the CISO role in October, following the departure of Alex Stamos in June to Facebook, and replacement Ramses Martinez leaving Yahoo to join Apple in August. It is important to state that Yahoo’s business is now valued at less than zero by Wall Street analysts and most of the value is derived from its 15 percent stake in Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group. Yahoo shares were trading at less than $16 when Marissa Mayer was named the company’s CEO in July 2012. But the search business generates about $2 billion a year in revenue, accounting for roughly 40% of Yahoo’s total business.
