6 ms·

Why'd she do it then? Got paid a lot, that's for damn sure. $219M over 4 years. http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/25/technology/marissa-mayer-pay/ http://money.cnn.

Why'd she do it then? Got paid a lot, that's for damn sure. $219M over 4 years. http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/25/technology/marissa-mayer-pay/ http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/25/technology/marissa-mayer-pay...

jonny_eh 10y ago
I don't think that's enough to bash someone. She gave it a good shot, I don't think anyone could've done better.
- sremani 10y ago
  This is not a convincing argument. The odds are certainly against Yahoo, and the promise of MM was it will turn Yahoo into a Engineering powerhouse, which never happened. On top of that the Yahoo hack handling was not leadership. She tried, well but her Participation Trophy was worth $300 million including Golden Parachute. That is a grave sign!
  - saalweachter 10y ago
    You're looking at this backwards. Yahoo was dying. They were dying no matter who was at the head. And whoever was holding the reins when Yahoo went down would get to be known as the person who killed Yahoo with the appropriate reputation hit. They might never work again, almost certainly never be the CEO of any significant company. Meanwhile the board needs a big name at the helm. Someone to goose the stock price at the end, someone to guide the company on a smooth glide back down. Someone to take the blame. If the board doesn't get someone big and credible, they lose money, they take the blame. Marissa Mayer didn't get paid $300 million despite presiding over a sinking ship. She got $300 million to preside over a sinking ship. That was the price of her reputation as a CEO.
    - zimpenfish 10y ago
      > Yahoo was dying. Yahoo was dying when I was there in 2005-6 - the internal political structure, in-fighting, and general disdain from the US for anything not made there was terrifying. But with billions of dollars propping it up, it takes a long time for a corpse to actually fall over.
Cyph0n 10y ago
Would you have refused such pay if you were in her position?
- CalChris 10y ago
  Of course not, but then when I failed which would have been pre-ordained and actually entirely foreseeable, bashing me here would NOT be really, really pointless and sad. However, if you are respecting her for picking up a paycheck, that is your right.
  - Cyph0n 10y ago
    I'm not "respecting" her; I'm just pointing out that the high pay is not as black and white as it was made out to be.
    - nimchimpsky 10y ago
      eh?
  - akjainaj 10y ago
    I think it's pointless and sad to bash her because, once again, I don't think it can reasonably be said that somebody else had the expertise to save Yahoo. We'll never know, of course. Also, being the CEO of an "old and out of touch" company with services that only grannies use nowadays leaves you open to lots of undeserved bashing. So bashing her is easy. But she should be bashed if she was a bad CEO (which she wasn't, I think) or if somebody else would've done better than her (a person that most probably doesn't exist). So there's that. (Yes, most of my comment was facetious. Don't take it literally)
    - CalChris 10y ago
      Take a look at what Meyers did at Yahoo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Yahoo!#Marissa_Mayer_era_.282012.E2.80.93present.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Yahoo!#Marissa_Maye... Basically, Yahoo has had exactly two successes: its investment in Google signed in 2001 when Yahoo used Google's search results and Jerry Yang's heroic investment in Alibaba. Everything Meyers did was simply spending that money. It's easy to spend money, especially when you have a lot and you are getting paid bank.
ryandrake 10y ago
For sure. For perspective, that's around 2000X more than an average tech salary in Silicon Valley. I'd be thrilled to [Not Turn Around Yahoo] for that much money. Hell, I could have done it for a fraction of the cost!
- cli 10y ago
  Did you add an extra 0? The average programmer salary is around $27,000 per year in Silicon Valley?
  - lstamour 10y ago
    I suspect they simply didn't divide by four as you have...
  - jon-wood 10y ago
    If that's really the case then Silicon Valley salaries have gone through the floor recently. That would be considered an insulting salary for a developer in London, in GBP.
    - TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
      If you search for web designer jobs in the UK on Indeed, most jobs are in the £25k to £30k range, with a slightly smaller selection between £30k and £35k. London may be in a class of its own, but elsewhere in the UK £35k is considered decent money. https://www.indeed.co.uk/jobs?q=Web+Design&l= https://www.indeed.co.uk/jobs?q=Web+Design&l=
      - true_religion 10y ago
        Development isn't design.
      - jon-wood 10y ago
        (Good) developer jobs tend not to make it job sites like Indeed. I'd expect a developer job somewhere other than a small agency to be starting at ~£30k anywhere in the country, and £35k in London. In London a half-decent developer can make ~£50k easily, and much more than that if they're good, or willing to do contract work.
prostoalex 10y ago
Everyone loves a good turnaround story versus slow-death story. As Google's 20th employee she was already approaching the tres commas league. Remember when she was confirmed as a hire, the feeling around the Valley was less of "wow, a new CEO" and more of "how did someone like Yahoo get someone like Marissa". The previous CEOs include alumni from PayPal and AutoDesk, so getting someone as successful was a win for Yahoo at the time.
- trhway 10y ago
  > more of "how did someone like Yahoo get someone like Marissa". Not me. My comment at the time was "Fiorina 2.0", a mediocre mid level got lucky.
  - geodel 10y ago
    I think your factual comment would not be popular then. I thought along the line that clever Google got rid of her without sacking or asked to go.
- nailer 10y ago
  > The previous CEOs include alumni from PayPal and AutoDesk I don't know whether that sentence is supposed to imply innovation (PayPal) or stagnation (AutoDesk).

jonny_eh 10y ago

I don't think that's enough to bash someone. She gave it a good shot, I don't think anyone could've done better.

sremani 10y ago
This is not a convincing argument. The odds are certainly against Yahoo, and the promise of MM was it will turn Yahoo into a Engineering powerhouse, which never happened. On top of that the Yahoo hack handling was not leadership. She tried, well but her Participation Trophy was worth $300 million including Golden Parachute. That is a grave sign!
- saalweachter 10y ago
  You're looking at this backwards. Yahoo was dying. They were dying no matter who was at the head. And whoever was holding the reins when Yahoo went down would get to be known as the person who killed Yahoo with the appropriate reputation hit. They might never work again, almost certainly never be the CEO of any significant company. Meanwhile the board needs a big name at the helm. Someone to goose the stock price at the end, someone to guide the company on a smooth glide back down. Someone to take the blame. If the board doesn't get someone big and credible, they lose money, they take the blame. Marissa Mayer didn't get paid $300 million despite presiding over a sinking ship. She got $300 million to preside over a sinking ship. That was the price of her reputation as a CEO.
  - zimpenfish 10y ago
    > Yahoo was dying. Yahoo was dying when I was there in 2005-6 - the internal political structure, in-fighting, and general disdain from the US for anything not made there was terrifying. But with billions of dollars propping it up, it takes a long time for a corpse to actually fall over.

Cyph0n 10y ago

Would you have refused such pay if you were in her position?

CalChris 10y ago
Of course not, but then when I failed which would have been pre-ordained and actually entirely foreseeable, bashing me here would NOT be really, really pointless and sad. However, if you are respecting her for picking up a paycheck, that is your right.
- Cyph0n 10y ago
  I'm not "respecting" her; I'm just pointing out that the high pay is not as black and white as it was made out to be.
  - nimchimpsky 10y ago
    eh?
- akjainaj 10y ago
  I think it's pointless and sad to bash her because, once again, I don't think it can reasonably be said that somebody else had the expertise to save Yahoo. We'll never know, of course. Also, being the CEO of an "old and out of touch" company with services that only grannies use nowadays leaves you open to lots of undeserved bashing. So bashing her is easy. But she should be bashed if she was a bad CEO (which she wasn't, I think) or if somebody else would've done better than her (a person that most probably doesn't exist). So there's that. (Yes, most of my comment was facetious. Don't take it literally)
  - CalChris 10y ago
    Take a look at what Meyers did at Yahoo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Yahoo!#Marissa_Mayer_era_.282012.E2.80.93present.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Yahoo!#Marissa_Maye... Basically, Yahoo has had exactly two successes: its investment in Google signed in 2001 when Yahoo used Google's search results and Jerry Yang's heroic investment in Alibaba. Everything Meyers did was simply spending that money. It's easy to spend money, especially when you have a lot and you are getting paid bank.

ryandrake 10y ago

For sure. For perspective, that's around 2000X more than an average tech salary in Silicon Valley. I'd be thrilled to [Not Turn Around Yahoo] for that much money. Hell, I could have done it for a fraction of the cost!

cli 10y ago
Did you add an extra 0? The average programmer salary is around $27,000 per year in Silicon Valley?
- lstamour 10y ago
  I suspect they simply didn't divide by four as you have...
- jon-wood 10y ago
  If that's really the case then Silicon Valley salaries have gone through the floor recently. That would be considered an insulting salary for a developer in London, in GBP.
  - TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
    If you search for web designer jobs in the UK on Indeed, most jobs are in the £25k to £30k range, with a slightly smaller selection between £30k and £35k. London may be in a class of its own, but elsewhere in the UK £35k is considered decent money. https://www.indeed.co.uk/jobs?q=Web+Design&l= https://www.indeed.co.uk/jobs?q=Web+Design&l=
    - true_religion 10y ago
      Development isn't design.
    - jon-wood 10y ago
      (Good) developer jobs tend not to make it job sites like Indeed. I'd expect a developer job somewhere other than a small agency to be starting at ~£30k anywhere in the country, and £35k in London. In London a half-decent developer can make ~£50k easily, and much more than that if they're good, or willing to do contract work.

prostoalex 10y ago

Everyone loves a good turnaround story versus slow-death story. As Google's 20th employee she was already approaching the tres commas league. Remember when she was confirmed as a hire, the feeling around the Valley was less of "wow, a new CEO" and more of "how did someone like Yahoo get someone like Marissa". The previous CEOs include alumni from PayPal and AutoDesk, so getting someone as successful was a win for Yahoo at the time.

trhway 10y ago
> more of "how did someone like Yahoo get someone like Marissa". Not me. My comment at the time was "Fiorina 2.0", a mediocre mid level got lucky.
- geodel 10y ago
  I think your factual comment would not be popular then. I thought along the line that clever Google got rid of her without sacking or asked to go.
nailer 10y ago
> The previous CEOs include alumni from PayPal and AutoDesk I don't know whether that sentence is supposed to imply innovation (PayPal) or stagnation (AutoDesk).