My original intent was to point out with sarcasm how taking what this CEO said as anything more than a publicity stunt/icebreaker for employees looking to leave

My original intent was to point out with sarcasm how taking what this CEO said as anything more than a publicity stunt/icebreaker for employees looking to leave yahoo, is absolutely absurd. OP is a result of way too much naval gazing on a pretty cut and dry topic. Yahoo is acting the villain, so let's incentivize employees to leave them. I don't think anyone believes seriously that the CEO is either going to keep a big list, or start acting this way towards other valley companies. He is capitalizing on the hype surrounding yahoos use of the 'nuclear option.' Implementation of such a system is riddled with flaws, as evidenced by the fact that the US still asks people [ with a straight face as well ] if they were a member of the Nazi party on current citizenship tests.