Yahoo, the once dominant search engine, is changing its name to Altaba ahead of a potential sale to Verizon. The company will also, likely, be showing CEO Marissa Mayer and her staff to the door if the sale is completed.
But, because this is Yahoo, there are still a few roadblocks that could put the entire deal in jeopardy.
Yahoo’s massive new identity change is part of a proposed $4.8 billion sale to Verizon that includes a new role for the once-dominant search engine.
The deal with Verizon includes the sale of Yahoo’s digital properties, including e-mail, search, mobile apps and websites. These are the pieces of the company that will be transformed in Altaba.
Whatever’s left of Yahoo will be left to function as a holding company for its investments in Alibaba, the dominant Chinese e-retailer, and Yahoo Japan. These two ventures alone are worth, according to the Associated Press, approximately $40 billion.
As part of the deal, Mayer and four other members of Yahoo’s board of directors will tender their resignations.
While the deal looked good on paper, reality crashed the party in a major way. Thanks to recent breaches of customer data by unknown hackers, Verizon is having second thoughts about whether or not to press forward with the deal. Company officials fear that the scandal, which may involve as many as a billion customers,
Yahoo to change name to Altaba, CEO Marissa Mayer will resign if Verizon deal gets done