What happens when you sell one huge tech company to another?
Lots of things, potentially, but in the case of Yahoo and Verizon, a name change and some big shifts in the company's board. But what does it all mean for the future of Yahoo, and it's CEO Marissa Mayer?
In IT Blogwatch, we have some theories.
So what is happening? Martyn Williams has the background:
Yahoo intends to change its name to Altaba once the sale of its internet portal to Verizon is completed. CEO Marissa Mayer and co-founder David Filo also will leave the company then...The changes are part of a $4.8 billion dollar deal signed in July 2016 to sell Yahoo.com to Verizon.
Altaba? What's with the name change? Joe Mullin explains:
Verizon has promised that...the Yahoo brand will live on. July's proposed sale included the firm's operating business, but it didn't include the...Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba owned by Yahoo, and it didn't include certain other assets, mostly shares of Asia-based companies and non-core patents. What remains...will be rolled into a publicly-traded investment company called Altaba.
And what's the deal with Mayer and Filo leaving the company? Deepa Seetharaman and Maria Armental have the details:
Eric Brandt, who joined Yahoo’s board last March...will become chairman of Altaba...He will be joined by four other directors who are currently on Yahoo’s board...Six Yahoo directors will be leaving after the Verizon sale.
About that sale -- wasn't it in question after a couple of big Yahoo breaches? What is going on with it now? Jessica Guynn fills us in:
Major hacks of Yahoo...have led to speculation that Verizon might renegotiate or even scrap the Yahoo acquisition...Last week, a senior Verizon executive who was instrumental in the...company's planned purchase of Yahoo...expressed doubts over the deal. She was the second top executive to suggest that Verizon might change the terms or even abandon the takeover.
So what is next for Mayer? John Brandon has some theories:
Mayer is not going to fade off into the distance just yet. She’s only 41, and her brief tenure as the CEO at Yahoo...is perhaps only a precursor to what will come next...I do have some theories...Mayer will move over to another high profile company.
...
Here’s my guess: It’s going to be Twitter...Why? For starters...Jack Dorsey, the current CEO and the cofounder, doesn’t seem to know what to do to make Twitter profitable...that is one of Mayer’s strengths...I hope it happens. There’s nothing like getting a second chance to correct a failing company.
Any other big takeaways? Mark Milian has one:
Yahoo is changing its name to Altaba, which will hopefully throw hackers off the scent for a while.