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Yahoo gives CEO Marissa Mayer severance package worth $55M

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P

Plum

Member
Kill3r7 said:
Agreed but this severance package was most likely negotiated prior to her signing on. So, to then point to her poor performance to argue that the severance package is too big is asinine. This is what the Yahoo board agreed to prior to bringing her on. They used the severance package among other benefits to entice her to join their company.
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Ah, I see, and agree. However we don't know the exact details so I wouldn't make assumptions either way. Even then, basically saying "we'll give you $55m no matter what so go wild" wouldn't have exactly motivated her to do the best possible job she could.

CEOs aren't a magical, one-in-a-million treasure and I'm tired of them getting treated as such. Rewarding them just for being CEOs even if they fail removes any and all accountability from running a company, and when there's 1000s of jobs on the line giving out $55m "awards for participating" is utterly bullshit.
 
D

Draft

Member
Hmm let's see I work about 40 hours a week and make...

Mayer works 120 hours per week and makes $14,000,000.

Math checks out. Hard worker confirmed.
 
C

crazygambit

Member
Draft said:
Hmm let's see I work about 40 hours a week and make...

Mayer works 120 hours per week and makes $14,000,000.

Math checks out. Hard worker confirmed.
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Well for CEOs nobody gives a shit how many hours they work. They only thing that matters is results.
 
T

teiresias

Member
Mysterious said:
Ya. She did a great job at Google.
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I've always been a bit iffy on Mayer and her tenure at Google. She ostensibly left since she was passed up for higher executive positions within the company, but I'm not sure she's actually proven that decision made at Google to be bad given her performance at Yahoo. She could certainly be one of those many engineers that is just not built for executive management.
 
M

Milly Osworth

Member
Do CEOs get to decide this amount themselves?

Who in their right mind would give someone so much money for failing apart from the CEO itself?
 
Z

Ziltoidia 9

Member
The only thing they care about is stock price. They don't care how many layoffs there are. To them, the amount of layoffs doesn't mean shit. Every time they lay people off, the people who weren't layed off have to be extra productive to make up for the missed workers, out of fear. From that, the lay offs provide extra profit to make the company seem like it is doing better, and thus, stock holders happy.

The economy is mostly ran by stock prices, something that a majority of the working class, middle income people in this country never even try to get into. We allow wallstreet's wants, to govern how the economy is ran.
 
A

Apt101

Member
Must be nice. To be a failure and reap rewards that allow yourself and ten of your generations to live freely.
 
JordanN

JordanN

Banned
Ziltoidia 9 said:
The only thing they care about is stock price. They don't care how many layoffs there are. To them, the amount of layoffs doesn't mean shit. Every time they lay people off, the people who weren't layed off have to be extra productive to make up for the missed workers, out of fear. From that, the lay offs provide extra profit to make the company seem like it is doing better, and thus, stock holders happy.

The economy is mostly ran by stock prices, something that a majority of the working class, middle income people in this country never even try to get into. We allow wallstreet's wants, to govern how the economy is ran.
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This is why America... no wait, the WHOLE WORLD, needs Sanders.

The sad thing is all this information is already made public. There's not even an attempt to hide where all the money is going. But there's no action.
 
J

Juno

LIAR and a FELON
massoluk said:
Yup, the first one had so much more personality. And they treated the entire thing as some industry shattering event.
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Love this gem:

"On a personal level, I love brands, logos, color, design, and, most of all, Adobe Illustrator. I think it’s one of the most incredible software packages ever made. I’m not a pro, but I know enough to be dangerous :)" — Marissa Mayer
 
A

Angelus Errare

Banned
Chichikov said:
I really wish that corporate America and the tech sector in particular stop treating workaholism like it's a good thing.
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This.

BreezyLimbo said:
Eh, Workaholism isn't a bad thing. If the person really gets through the day by putting in alot of work, even an excessive amount, than good for them. Granted I like my time off, but I can see why a person would put in alot of hours doing something they want to do.
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It's a horrible thing in America because it becomes normalized and thus everyone is expected to work similar hours. It's why taking vacation is so looked down upon as is sick leave. ESPECIALLY in the tech sector. Apply for a job where they say you work 40hrs a week, only to find out that you're really working 60-70hrs a week and sometimes pressured into working more.

No thank you.
 
D

Dennis

Banned
Must be nice seeing a train wreck about to go down but still know you can hop on board and get $55,000,000.
 
T

tearsintherain

Member
Ziltoidia 9 said:
The only thing they care about is stock price. They don't care how many layoffs there are. To them, the amount of layoffs doesn't mean shit. Every time they lay people off, the people who weren't layed off have to be extra productive to make up for the missed workers, out of fear. From that, the lay offs provide extra profit to make the company seem like it is doing better, and thus, stock holders happy.

The economy is mostly ran by stock prices, something that a majority of the working class, middle income people in this country never even try to get into. We allow wallstreet's wants, to govern how the economy is ran.
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This is mostly accurate but a companies valuation is generally tied to employees, or more accurate how much revenue an employee generate. When inefficiency is layed off company stock prices go up - for example, if company A buys company B and lays off 10k people, saying those 10k were all duplicate positions that weren't revenue generating, then the stock goes up.

But if company A just lays off 10k people while times are good, thats generally a sign the company is hitting a growth ceiling and while it may get a temporary boost in stock it generally portends lower revenue and profit expectations and the stock price will follow. Intel for example layed off a bunch of people recently and people didn't pump up the stock, its been going generally down since then. Acquisitions usually are for three key things: customers, intellectual property, and employees.

Anyways re: why the heck Yahoo is publicly announcing this deal, its basically to show investors they are trying to motivate the top staff to get the company bought. "See, if Yahoo gets bought soon she will make $55m so she has a HUGE incentive to sell the company! Please don't fire us (Board of Directors), we are trying!" Investors are seriously pissed at Yahoo since the company is shrinking every year now for a while, while other similar companies have grown 10-100x in the same time.
 
T

The Albatross

Member
The reason these things happen is because companies are competing for CEO talent. Mayer was the hottest commodity at Google, with a proven record of genius and success at the most successful company in tech. Dozens of companies would have been competing for her to take over and part of the negotiation is "What will I get if the company doesn't succeed under me?"

"Not performing a miracle" does not make a CEO a failure.

sarcastor said:
Well she shouldn't have bought Tumblr for $1.1 billion dollars.

Yahoo is sinking ship, like Nokia, Blackberry, Radio Shack, etc.

btw how is AOL still around? wtf?
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Ads. AOL was very smart to sell their ISP assets and build one of the largest ad networks on the internet. Starting in 2007, AOL went hard on buying small/medium advertising networks and now AOL's primary business is advertising:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_acquisitions_by_AOL

I think their ad network is about the same size as DoubleClick, by Google.

Makareu said:
Why would a CEO even bother trying to do his job when it ends like that ?
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Looking for the next job. While $50m is more than enough to do whatever you want for the rest of your life, the executives who move up at companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, HubSpot, and others have a strong personal drive and are usually brilliant people. I'd love to get a $50m parachute and then never work again for the rest of my life, living in a suspension bubble playing classic videogames in the Carribean while being fed rare grapes. But that's why I'll never be an executive of a company like this.
 
jts

jts

...hate me...
Makareu said:
Why would a CEO even bother trying to do his job when it ends like that ?
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Equity stake in the company that at this scale can be worth multiple times more sometimes.

Not to mention performance bonuses etc.

And the severance package will still be there.

edit: and yes as said, reputation, career, which translates in ability to land more of these gigs.

55M is a LOT. But would you just outright take it or potentially earn 10x more if given the chance?
 
S

Spiral Insanity

Banned
Juno said:
My favourite part of her tenure when was she got a bunch of designers together over the weekend to do a re-brand and produced their new logo...

yahoonewlogo.png
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New logo is great, do you have any drafts?
 
R

Random Painted HIghway

Member
I really like yahoo sports, including ysr to some degree and wil be sad to see them go, but the talent will just redistribute to other outlets at least. Assuming they get sold off and hacked apart of course.
 
K

KevinCow

Banned
The Albatross said:
Looking for the next job. While $50m is more than enough to do whatever you want for the rest of your life, the executives who move up at companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, HubSpot, and others have a strong personal drive and are usually brilliant people. I'd love to get a $50m parachute and then never work again for the rest of my life, living in a suspension bubble playing classic videogames in the Carribean while being fed rare grapes. But that's why I'll never be an executive of a company like this.
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I just don't understand what could drive them like that, though. Why do they need more money? What could they possibly do with $100m that they couldn't do with $50m? I don't think I'd be able to spend $50m if I bought everything I've ever wanted and will ever want for the rest of my life.
 
R

radios shipping overview

Member
element said:
Fail Up. Happens all the time in tech.

Buying Tumblr was a terrible decision. Also the inability to pivot Flickr into anything was painful.
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Flickr works great for what it is, and the community there is still strong. The site was really improved with the post-Mayer refresh, and the new mobile apps work well. I mean, obviously it wasn't turned into something that could save a sinking ship like Yahoo, but that was never a problem with Flickr itself, and a change like that would probably ruin the service for its existing users.

Tumblr, on the other hand, is in the process of being ruined in just that way.
 
E

elrechazado

Banned
KevinCow said:
I just don't understand what could drive them like that, though. Why do they need more money? What could they possibly do with $100m that they couldn't do with $50m? I don't think I'd be able to spend $50m if I bought everything I've ever wanted and will ever want for the rest of my life.
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When you make 25k all you can think about is how easy life would be at 50k. Then you adjust your lifestyle. On and on. Nobody wants to hear it, but millionaires do the same thing we all do.
 
S

Spiral Insanity

Banned
KevinCow said:
I just don't understand what could drive them like that, though. Why do they need more money? What could they possibly do with $100m that they couldn't do with $50m? I don't think I'd be able to spend $50m if I bought everything I've ever wanted and will ever want for the rest of my life.
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It all depends on where and how you live.

What drives Robert Downey Jr to make new movies after a few Iron Man performances? Because he enjoys it, because it gives his life a purpose, because it is a challenge. I don't think a lot of people who tasted success can be satisfied with just relaxing on a beach for the rest of their lives.
 
Flying Toaster

Flying Toaster

Member
Not saying it's right... But Yahoo was a sinking ship before they hired her.

It would take an act of God, gutting the company, black magic and a completely new philosophy to turn Yahoo around. Not only that but yahoos direct competition would need to fail so they could pick up business. She has a huge mountain to climb.
 
T

TangoAlphaLima

Member
FYI, this is called a "Golden Parachute".

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/goldenparachute.asp

It's generally done to prevent hostile takeovers. In Yahoo's current case, if another company buys Yahoo, they could end up keeping Mayer around to avoid paying the $55 mil. Alternatively, they may factor in the golden parachute when making the offer to buy Yahoo (i.e. Yahoo may be worth less knowing that Mayer gets $55 mil if she's ousted in the first year after the acquisition).
 
P

Plum

Member
elrechazado said:
When you make 25k all you can think about is how easy life would be at 50k. Then you adjust your lifestyle. On and on. Nobody wants to hear it, but millionaires do the same thing we all do.
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People think that at 25k because at 50k you might be able to pay the bills and rent a decent place in a decent part of town. What multi-millionaires like Mayer might be experiencing isn't the same thing at all.
 
T

TangoAlphaLima

Member
elrechazado said:
When you make 25k all you can think about is how easy life would be at 50k. Then you adjust your lifestyle. On and on. Nobody wants to hear it, but millionaires do the same thing we all do.
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Not really. There's something called the Marginal Utility of Wealth.

https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/12309/concepts/diminishing-marginal-utility-of-income-and-wealth/

If you're extremely poor, every extra dollar helps immensely. But as you get to mega-rich status, those additional millions mean very little.
 
E

elrechazado

Banned
TangoAlphaLima said:
Not really. There's something called the Marginal Utility of Wealth.

https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/12309/concepts/diminishing-marginal-utility-of-income-and-wealth/

If you're extremely poor, every extra dollar helps immensely. But as you get to mega-rich status, those additional millions mean very little.
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Yes, that wasn't the point I was making. It's not about the utility per dollar of low vs high income. It's about lifestyle adjustment. Millionaires buy multiple homes and cars. They buy boats and go on lavish vacations. The question asked was "why do they need more"? They need more because they become accustomed to spending more to maintain their lifestyle. Nobody is saying that they need to do this, or that a millionaire buying luxury goods is equivalent to a poor person buying essentials.
 
V

Vicetrailia

Member
Spiral Insanity said:
It all depends on where and how you live.

What drives Robert Downey Jr to make new movies after a few Iron Man performances? Because he enjoys it, because it gives his life a purpose, because it is a challenge. I don't think a lot of people who tasted success can be satisfied with just relaxing on a beach for the rest of their lives.
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Yeah. For some it is a way of life, their normal in the way that you have a normal. They don't scale down, or turn off. For some people this is just what they know.

For others, it's to achieve more than they've ever had before. My previous CEO who died was an executive at J&J, CEO at a few pharmaceuticals, and then created his own software company. His aim for was multi-generational wealth, and initially creating a company to his ideal. This is the same as you bettering yourself, just with different bases.
 
N

Netherscourge

Banned
Good for her.

If Yahoo does this for their execs, then I would want to be an exec there too.

Nothing wrong with that. It gives people incentive to work harder and come up with new ideas, as opposed to just being a mindless drone.

Sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss. But if you don't take a chance, you're definitely going to lose.
 
P

Ponn

Banned
perfectchaos007 said:
Failing at a job you were expected to fail at and getting 55mil? I wish I was offered that job.
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And your resume is still good enough you will be hired as a CEO of another company and continue getting big payouts. The whole system is some revolving door club shit.
 
M

massoluk

Banned
Yahoo didn't make mistake not accepting that buyout from Microsoft though. For quite sometime after that proposal (by 2013), Yahoo did worth a lot more than that deal thanks to Alibaba. Jerry Yang was vindicated. They drove off the cliff afterward.
 
P

Plum

Member
Netherscourge said:
Good for her.

If Yahoo does this for their execs, then I would want to be an exec there too.

Nothing wrong with that. It gives people incentive to work harder and come up with new ideas, as opposed to just being a mindless drone.

Sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss. But if you don't take a chance, you're definitely going to lose.
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So if you fail at the one job you're supposed to do and this is somehow a good thing? Nothing in her entire Yahoo tenure suggested that the company's failure was a "better luck next time" sort of thing at all.
 
Link

Link

The Autumn Wind
Netherscourge said:
Good for her.

If Yahoo does this for their execs, then I would want to be an exec there too.

Nothing wrong with that. It gives people incentive to work harder and come up with new ideas, as opposed to just being a mindless drone.

Sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss. But if you don't take a chance, you're definitely going to lose.
Click to expand...
If only this applied to anyone besides top-level executives. The rest of us plebs will take our gruel and like it.
 
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