Marissa Mayer to Leave Yahoo Board; Yahoo to Change Name to Altaba - 2nd Update
January 09 2017 - 8:10PM
Dow Jones News
By Deepa Seetharaman and Maria Armental
Yahoo Inc. said Monday it will whittle down its board after
completing its deal with Verizon Communications Inc., and several
longtime directors, including Chief Executive Marissa Mayer and
co-founder David Filo, will step down as directors.
After the sale of its core internet business, the company will
change its name to Altaba Inc. from RemainCo, Yahoo said in a
regulatory filing. Altaba's remaining assets include Yahoo's stake
in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Yahoo Japan. The name is a
combination of the words "alternate" and "Alibaba," a person
familiar with the matter said.
Eric Brandt, who joined Yahoo's board last March and is the
former chief financial officer of Broadcom Corp., will become
chairman of Altaba, according to the filing. He will be joined by
four other directors who are currently on Yahoo's board, including
Thomas McInerney, who was part of the independent committee of
Yahoo directors running the auction process last year.
The moves would happen after the closing of the roughly $4.8
billion sale to Verizon, which has been endangered by two huge
hacks of Yahoo's user data. In the filing, Yahoo said Verizon could
terminate its purchase of Yahoo or renegotiate the terms because of
the hacks.
Verizon has become less certain that the deal will go through
after a second breach of one billion accounts was revealed last
month. The breaches could be a material event that would allow
Verizon to change the terms of the deal, executives have said.
Still, analysts say most of Yahoo's value stems from its stakes
in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, not the core business sold to Verizon.
The core business accounts for 10% of Yahoo's market value,
Evercore ISI analyst Ken Sena wrote in a Dec. 15 note. About 61% of
Yahoo's worth is tied to its stake in Alibaba, while 13% is linked
to Yahoo Japan Corp., Mr. Sena wrote.
On Monday, Yahoo's shares rose a penny to $41.35 in recent
after-hours trading and Verizon's are down three cents to
$52.65.
Six Yahoo directors will be leaving after the Verizon sale,
including Ms. Mayer, Mr. Filo and Maynard Webb Jr., a director
since February 2012, who was named chairman in August 2013. Mr.
Webb, as of Monday, became chairman emeritus.
Also leaving the board will be Jane Shaw, a former
pharmaceutical industry executive who joined in 2014, as well as
media executive Eddy Hartenstein and Richard Hill, former CEO of
Novellus Systems Inc.
Ms. Mayer was named CEO of Yahoo after she came over from Google
in 2012. She is expected to remain with Yahoo once it becomes part
of Verizon.
Messrs. Hartenstein and Hill joined Yahoo's board in early 2016
after being nominated by hedge fund Starboard Value LP. Two others
nominated by Starboard, former banker Tor Braham and Starboard
chief executive Jeffrey Smith, will stay on the board of
Altaba.
At that time, the activist investor sought to replace the entire
slate of directors, saying the board wasn't making changes quickly
enough.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 09, 2017 19:55 ET (00:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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