Yahoo Inc. CEO Marissa Mayer will be stepping down from the board once Verizon Communications Inc. completes its acquisition of the company, and the remaining assets left behind by Verizon will be renamed Altaba Inc, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission report.
Mayer won’t be the only member of the board to step down. Co-founder David Filo, Eddy Hartenstein, Richard Hill, Jane Shaw, and Maynard Webb will also be leaving. Eric Brandt will become the new chairman of the board. However, Mayer may still be involved with the company once the Verizon deal goes through, but if she does leave, she could receive $55 million.
Altaba stems out of the assets Verizon is leaving behind in the $4.83 billion deal. The communications company is only purchasing Yahoo’s core internet business – which includes digital advertising, email, and media assets – and is leaving behind assets such as a 15 per cent stake in the Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and a 35.5 per cent stake in Yahoo Japan.
Altaba will not have a full board of directors due to the lack of decision-making involved. Moving forward, Altaba will be little more than an investment company. Granted, it’ll be little more than an investment company with billions in cash and assets.
Brandt will be leading this board, and it will be roughly half the size of the current Yahoo board.
This news comes just a month after Yahoo announced a billion dollar data breach. Speculation has been rampant about how that will effect the Verizon deal, although reports from Bloomberg indicate that it likely won’t change anything.
