Though Verizon’s Yahoo acquisition had been plagued with several hiccups along the way, the transaction is finally happening after the minimal $350 million price cut. This acquisition is resulting in Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer stepping down from her executive role with a massive $23 million ‘golden parachute’ compensation. Her severance package is a mix of cash, stock, and other benefits.
According to a recent filing with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission, this agreement will kick in once Verizon completes the $4.48 billion (previously $4.83 billion) acquisition of Yahoo’s core internet assets. She is due to receive $3 million in cash, $24,000 in benefits, and $19,971,367 in equity. This amounts to a total of around $23 million, which is a pretty handsome sum for someone didn’t exactly turn out to be a star player for the internet giant.
Talking about the same, the document further reads,
The values in this column represent the cash payments to which the executive officer would be entitled under either the change-in-control plan or under the severance agreement, whichever is greater.
While we can criticize the oh-so massive severance she’s receiving from Yahoo, the golden ticket package could’ve been twice as much as the current amount — $53 billion. This would’ve been awarded to Mayer if she was fired from her role at Yahoo, but she has decided to step down from the executive board. Also, this compensation is still greater than the $20 million annual stock bonus she’d foregone in wake of the gruesome security breaches caused due to forged cookies.
As announced earlier, the remaining left-overs of the online search giant — which includes 35.5 percent stakes in Yahoo Japan and the 15 percent stakes in Alibaba — is essentially a holding company that’ll now be renamed Altaba. This newly formed entity will witness a significant change in senior-level management, starting with Marissa Mayer’s exit. Other resigning from Yahoo’s board include David Filo, Eddy Hartenstein, Richard Hill, Jane Shaw and Maynard Webb.
Further, Mayer is moving on and now joining Verizon to manage the core assets which would be transferred to the telecom giant post acquisition. There is currently no word on how long she plans to stick with Yahoo and manage the transition but her old executive role is being handed over to board member Thomas McInerney.
McInerney is the former chief executive of internet media giant InterActiveCorp, which runs dating websites Match.com. And he has been offered an even sweeter and massive compensation deal. He’ll be taking over as Altaba’s chief executive and receive a base salary of $2 billion, twice that of Mayer’s current package. In addition, he has also been provided with stock options and target bonuses that can push his salary up to $4 million in the first year.
