Yahoo shareholders approved the firm’s $4.5 billion sale to Verizon, along with golden parachutes for executives.
SUNNYVALE — Nearly a year and a half after Yahoo put itself up for sale, the troubled company’s shareholders on Thursday voted to approve its $4.48 billion sale to telecommunications giant Verizon.
The vote capped months of speculation over whether the deal would go ahead, as scandal after scandal rocked Yahoo.
Yahoo expects the sale to close Tuesday, the firm said after a special meeting dedicated to the vote on the sale and “golden parachute” compensation for senior executives.
“Yahoo stockholders voted to approve the advisory vote on the compensation payable to the company’s named executive officers in connection with the completion of the sale transaction, ” Yahoo said in a statement.
The firm had announced in February it was for sale, and accepted a $4.83 bid from Verizon about five months later.
But a series of revelations about massive hacks of Yahoo users’ data, and news that the company knew about one of them but kept quiet about it for almost two years, threw the deal into jeopardy. Ultimately, Verizon leveraged Yahoo’s missteps into a $350 million discount on the sale price.
Layoffs are anticipated during consolidation of Yahoo with Verizon, with media reports based on anonymous sources suggesting job losses of 1,000 to 1,500.
Golden parachute compensation for Yahoo senior executives approved Thursday adds up to $23 million for CEO Marissa Mayer; $9 million for chief financial officer Ken Goldman; $15.7 million for chief revenue officer Lisa Utzschneider; and $67,000 for David Filo, co-founder and “Chief Yahoo.”
Check back on this developing story.
