Verizon Communications said last Tuesday it closed its $4.48 billion acquisition of Yahoo's core business and that chief executive of the internet company, Marissa Mayer, had resigned.
Verizon, the No. 1 U.S. wireless operator, is teaming up with Yahoo and AOL, which it purchased already a couple of years ago, to form a venture called Oath, which is led by AOL CEO Tim Armstrong. Oath has more than 50 brands and that includes TechCrunch, HuffPost, and Tumblr.
More so, the completion of the acquisition marked the end of Yahoo as a stand-alone internet company, a tech pioneer once highly regarded at more than $100 billion. The Yahoo acquisition has taken a long time process to close. Initially, Verizon made a deal last July, for $4.83 billion in cash. According to a source, Marissa Mayer officially became Yahoo's last CEO. Mayer is believed to receive a compensation package of more than $23 million as she resigned the company, according to a regulatory filing.
Although Marissa Mayer's fate under Verizon was still unclear, Mayer's resignation was a generally predicted outcome. The country's largest wireless carrier got Yahoo and its more than 1 billion monthly users at a bargain price following years of tumult at the Internet provider. High CEO turnover and uncertain direction, culminating in the disclosure of major data breaches that happened under Mayer's leadership.
Marissa Mayer wrote in an email to her employees on Tuesday saying "Given the inherent changes to my role, I'll be leaving the company," She also added, "However, I want all of you to know that I am brimming with nostalgia, gratitude, and optimism."
Last week Verizon planned to cut about 2,000 jobs, or 15%, of the 14,000 employees at its Yahoo and AOL companies. Verizon is believed to make cuts as early as Wednesday. Yahoo cut 15% of its workforce in 2016 and AOL cut 500 jobs as well.
Furthermore, the rest of Yahoo not acquired by Verizon is reported to be renamed Altaba Inc, a holding company whose major assets will be its 15.5% stake in Alibaba Group Holding and a 35.5% assets in Yahoo Japan. Yahoo's board member, Thomas McInerney, is set to become Altaba's chief executive officer.
