Verizon still reportedly hasn’t made up its mind about Yahoo, but the troubled internet giant is moving forward with plans for a merger anyway.
In an SEC filing this week, Yahoo indicated that immediately following the close of its deal with Verizon, the company’s board will be reduced to just five members, including Tor Braham, Eric Brandt, Catherine Friedman, Thomas McInerney, and Jeffrey Smith, with Brandt as chairman. Among those leaving the board will be current Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, co-founder David Filo, Eddy Hartenstein, Richard Hill, Jane Shaw, and Maynard Webb.
Yahoo stressed in the filing the departure of the latter group didn’t stem from “any disagreement with the company on any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies, or practices.”
Additionally, Yahoo revealed a planned name change for the remainder of its assets following the merger. At the close of its presumed deal with Verizon, Yahoo said it will rename the company holding leftover assets to Altaba Inc.
The news about Mayer in particular is interesting given Verizon has not yet announced whether or not she will be staying on board with Verizon after the transition.
Back in July, Mayer said she was “planning to stay” with the company, but Verizon’s AOL CES Tim Armstrong noted in an interview with TechCrunch that he and Mayer had work to do to determine “what roles are going to be there.”
In her four years as Yahoo CEO, Mayer has received more than $162 million in salary payments and stock awards. Should she exit the company, Mayer stands to gain a severance package of around $55 million, $3 million of which is cash.