The business world can cause a lot of confusion among those of us who closely follow technology. And if we look for a good example, we don't need to look further than what is happening with Yahoo!. The fallen web giant is basically waiting in the parking lot for its acquisition to complete, but in the last few hours two pieces of news have circulated: The name change to Altaba, and the departure of Marissa Mayer. Is that what's going to happen? Well... yes and no.
Sometimes companies disappear and that's it. Then we find cases of recovery (like what happened with Kodak after its bankruptcy four years ago), and the other alternative is an acquisition, partial or total. Yahoo! is taking that third path. Increasing losses, two massive security breaches, the growth of its competitors, and a series of failed strategies left this titan wounded in a corner. And there's still no definite conclusion. Verizon must complete the deal, but everything seems to indicate that it will first seek a good discount on the original price, agreed at $4.8 billion. What exactly does Verizon buy with that? In essence, all of Yahoo!'s web business structure, including the search engine, email service, sports portal, and according to available information, both Tumblr and Flickr.
The Form 8-K Announcement
But why so much movement related to Yahoo! in recent hours? What we found is an announcement known as Form 8-K, used to announce high-level changes in many companies. The 8-K text reports that Marissa Mayer, current CEO of Yahoo!, has expressed her intention to resign from the board of directors once the sale operation concludes. This also extends to David Filo (co-founder of Yahoo! with Jerry Yang), Eddy Hartenstein, Richard Hill, Jane Shaw, and Maynard Webb. The part of Yahoo! that does not pass to Verizon will remain under shareholder control and will receive a new name: Altaba. The new company will consist of 36 percent of Yahoo! Japan (number one in the local market), 16 percent of Alibaba, and the patents. In other words, an 'investment zombie' with a minimal board and no products.
The Split and Mayer's Future
At first glance, these are details that can go unnoticed, but they actually say much more. On one hand, the division allows Verizon to continue using the Yahoo! brand without any interference for what will theoretically be its new services, and on the other, there is the possibility that Mayer remains as CEO of Yahoo!, although several portals already anticipate her definitive departure once she joins the ranks of Verizon, not so much because of her own decision (in July of last year she said she wanted to stay), but because of the desire of the new owners. Personally, I don't think it will hurt her much: her golden parachute (similar to the 'blind contract' in Spain) is $55 million, with the potential to get even more.
