Marissa Mayer, Yahoo’s chief executive, announced via Twitter that she gave birth to twin girls Thursday morning.
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As she did with her son, Mayer plans to only take a “limited” time away from her job. That came just one day after her company told the world that it would abandon a key part of her turnaround plan for the struggling firm and consider spinning off Yahoo’s core business. A Yahoo spokeswoman, reached via email, declined to comment on Equilar’s calculations. She actually doubled down on her vow to stay at Yahoo and turn things around, in an interview with the Financial Times on Wednesday. “BU earlier today, CEO Marissa Mayer got grilled by CNBC’s David Faber and James Cramer regarding the so-called “credibility gap” she now faces”.
Yahoo Chairman Maynard Webb said that there isn’t a proactive movement to sell the company, but that the “board has a fiduciary obligation to engage with any person who comes forward with a good offer”.
Those remarks seemed to disappoint investors hoping that Yahoo’s latest change in course might be a precursor to a sale.
Yahoo’s long-running identity crisis is spiraling in a new direction now that the company is abandoning a year’s work on a tax-dodging spinoff to pursue an alternative path that will carve off its Internet business instead.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) announced that its Board of Directors, after careful review and consideration of how to best drive long-term value for shareholders, has unanimously made a decision to suspend work on the pending plan, announced in January of 2015, to spin off the company’s remaining holdings in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA). Revenue has fallen slightly since she took the helm in mid-2012, and Yahoo’s share of USA web searches is essentially flat with three years ago, gaining no ground on market leader Google. Yahoo will instead separate its core businesses, including a stake in Yahoo Japan, into a new company.
She also said she was “taking further steps to tighten our focus and prioritise our investments to drive growth”.
Webb says he believes that Yahoo is undervalued, and the company’s focus will be on revitalizing the company and getting investors to properly value the company. Her announcement sparked criticism that she was setting a bad example for working mothers at Yahoo. Yahoo stock is down 30% from the beginning of the year.
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The almost $100 million difference is because Mayer’s severance package is tied to the company’s share price; the $158 million figure was derived from Yahoo’s share price at the end of 2014, a robust $50.51.
