Yahoo set to shrink board, change name

Yahoo Inc Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer is among six directors who plan to leave the board of the investment company that will be left after the closing of the proposed sale of Yahoo’s main internet properties to Verizon Communications Inc.

The new company, a shareholder in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Yahoo Japan, will change its name to Altaba Inc and reduce its board to five members as it looks ahead to its next chapter with fewer ties to the iconic brand, according to a filing on Monday.

Yahoo agreed to sell its web properties to Verizon in a deal valued at about $4.8 billion, though questions have come up after Yahoo revealed two separate hacks of user data. The deal came after Mayer failed to deliver on a turnaround attempt that began after her arrival in 2012.

“The end of the Marissa Mayer era— it looks like her plan is to complete the sale of the operating company to Yahoo and let the lawyers and tax accountants figure out the best option for the stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan,” said Paul Sweeney,

... It looks like her plan is to complete the sale of the operating company ...” Paul Sweeney, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence

an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

The directors who will remain with Altaba after the closing of the Verizon sale are Tor Braham, Eric Brandt, Catherine Friedman, Thomas McInerney and Jeffrey Smith. Brandt was named the chairman to help the company ease its transition to an investment vehicle.

While the deal with Verizon followed months of negotiations with various parties, it has come under pressure after Yahoo last month revealed a second major hack of user accounts.

Verizon began exploring a lower price or a possible exit from its purchase agreement in the wake of the recent disclosure of the data breaches.