Yahoo sold out to Verizon, after user data breach scandals kept hidden, but for executives the farewell "gifts" are not lacking
All the bigwigs of the former Yahoo, which will change its name to Altaba, will not leave empty-handed unlike the rumors circulating in recent weeks. The now ex CEO Marissa Mayer will not cry misery with in her pocket a severance pay of 23 million dollars, of which 3 million in cash.
Managing a company badly, bringing it almost to the bankruptcy, hiding hacker attacks of pharaonic proportions - with related data theft - evidently is not a crime if the bigwigs of Yahoo, soon to be owned by Verizon, leave with a good haul of millions in their pockets. It will be thanks to ad hoc contracts that protect them from any fault, negligence and omission. So much for those poor users who have suffered damages, even huge ones, after the repeated violations of the systems of a company that had to guard their personal data. The rumors that claimed that those responsible would go away empty-handed has been denied by the documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Does one learn from mistakes and does one gain?
In the documents in question, it turns out that Yahoo will give out substantial severance pay to executives who will leave the company when the historic Internet site will change its skin to become Altaba, now in the hands of Verizon. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer will receive a package of cash, stock, and miscellaneous benefits totaling $23,011,325 million upon completion of the transaction, including $3 million in cash. But she won't be the only one to walk away with a nice little nest egg.
Golden Parachutes
Lisa Utzschneider, Yahoo's chief revenue officer, will receive a severance package of about $16 million, while Ken Goldman, Yahoo's chief financial officer, will get a "goodbye" of more than $9 million. David Filo, Yahoo's co-founder, will take home $15 million in cash in addition to a two-year health insurance policy. Ronald Bell, Yahoo's general counsel, who resigned March 1, left, instead, empty-handed.
Mayer and co. knew about the breaches
These are the documents that will be sent to Yahoo shareholders before the extraordinary meeting - not yet set - to approve Verizon's acquisition of the company, although it is, in all likelihood, a pro-forma. Yahoo that was already not sailing in good waters, after the public revelation of the unprecedented and undisclosed breaches, has lost 350 million dollars of its value. In addition to the trust of many users who have "fled" to other web services. And through it all, Mayer and other Yahoo executives knew about the breaches well before the acquisition by Verizon began.