Yahoo CEO may get $55 million as severance

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer will walk away with a $55 million severance package if the company’s auction of its Internet operations culminates in a sale that ousts her from her job.

The payout disclosed in a regulatory filing Friday consists of cash, stock awards and other benefits that Ms Mayer would get should she be forced out as CEO within a year after a sale.

Although Yahoo’s board is still evaluating takeover offers, most investors are betting that the company will decide to sell its well-known brand and an Internet business that includes a popular email service and sections focused on sports and finance.

Ms Mayer, a former Google executive, has been unsuccessfully trying to turn around Yahoo for nearly four years.

Instead, Yahoo’s long-running slump has deepened during her reign, making her pay a prickly topic among investors.

“I don’t think this management team has done anything to merit a huge payout,” said Eric Jackson, managing director of SpringOwl Asset Management, a Yahoo shareholder critical of Ms Mayer’s leadership.

Yahoo declined to comment beyond its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The documents didn’t explain the rationale for the severance packages covering Ms Mayer and other Yahoo executives, although they are common at most publicly held companies as a way to maintain some stability during times of uncertainty.

Ms Mayer received a compensation package valued at nearly $36 million last year under the SEC’s accounting rules.