According to Yahoo Inc., they would trim its board once the ink has dried on its deal with Verizon Communications Inc. This would mean that current CEO Marissa Mayer and co-founder David Filo, will no longer be directors by then, in addition to other board members. Once the sale of its core Internet business is completed, the company is all set to change its name to Altaba Inc. from RemainCo, as mentioned by Yahoo in a regulatory filing. It is widely believed that Mayer is not going to be too upset with this particular deal, since she might just end up with a cool severance package that is worth a whopping $55 million.
This particular business move goes to show that nothing remains constant in the world of technology, taking into consideration how Yahoo was one of the Internet pioneers during the early dot-com days. Bear in mind that through all of the wheeling and dealing in the boardroom, Yahoo will actually sell just its core business and brand to Verizon. There is still a huge investment that remains with Alibaba of China and Yahoo Japan. However, the name change to Altaba might take some getting used to, especially when one has grown up with the Yahoo brand name all of their lives.
Other than Mayer and Yahoo co-founder David Filo, there will be another four members of the board who will no longer be there once the deal is done. Verizon will then be firmly in charge of picking up Yahoo's operating business, and it must be noted that Mayer's resignation from the new board has not been attributed to ‘any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company's operations, policies or practices' -- based on the SEC filing.
It was originally thought that this particular deal was not going to go through after the recent hacking scandal involved Yahoo. In that hacking scandal, it seemed that hackers might have picked up personal and private information that consists of names, email addresses, telephone numbers, passwords and dates of birth, not to mention security questions and answers -- the entire gamut. All of these information can be abused to gain access to bank accounts, online shopping accounts, and even social media profiles. This particular hacking scandal was just made public recently despite having happened three years ago, and is widely believed to be the biggest of its kind in history.
It was just last week that a senior Verizon Communications Inc. executive shared on how they were not too sure about picking up Yahoo Inc's internet business, but it looks like it is all systems go now. The SEC filing did show that Yahoo mentioned: 'In light of the fact that following the Closing the Company will operate as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Board has determined that, immediately following the Closing, the size of the Board will be reduced to five (5) directors.
'Tor Braham, Eric Brandt, Catherine Friedman, Thomas McInerney and Jeffrey Smith will continue to serve as directors of the Company following the Closing, and Mr. Brandt will serve as Chairman of the Board.
'Each of David Filo, Eddy Hartenstein, Richard Hill, Marissa Mayer, Jane Shaw and Maynard Webb has indicated that he or she intends to resign from the Board effective upon the Closing, and that his or her intention to resign is not due to any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company's operations, policies or practices.'
