Marissa Mayer is making tech circles look up to her in a way that no one has, since the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs. The newly appointed and pregnant 37-year-old chief executive of internet firm Yahoo, is also carrying with her a host of issues that she has to tackle soon, for her company to have any future at all. The question whether ?Women can have it all? is back in business big time. Wall Street hardly paid any attention to the results announced last week, instead concentrating on what a pregnant Marissa would say to rebuild the company?s fortunes.
The fact that Yahoo has pulled her out of Google?its numero uno adversary?makes the development all the more exciting. Marissa is Yahoo?s third top boss in the last one year. Not too many things have gone right for the company in the past 5 years or so. The firm has been constantly trying to come up with a winning mix of offerings but nothing has given them the momentum that it has been seeking desperately.
To start with, Marissa?s deep product knowledge and technology understanding, around internet, is a great take off point. At Google, she has done the hard yards. Many feel that her appointment as CEO reveals Yahoo?s intention to focus harder on Web technology than rewiring its online content. She had specialised in artificial intelligence while getting her master?s degree at Stanford University in 1999. And she can talk up a conversation with even the youngest geek on campus. This should help Yahoo gain back its brand image. With Marissa around, the media may be a little more interested in covering the company.
Her compensation package could total more than $70 million in salary, bonuses, restricted stock and stock options over five years, according to a regulatory filing made by the company on Thursday. The pay package is broken out into $1 million in annual salary, $2 million in an annual bonus and $42 million in stock options and other awards, as well as $14 million for forfeiture of compensation from Google.
The market is expecting Marissa to take some time before announcing her moves. For a long time, the company did not enjoy any strategic direction till Ross Levinsohn came along. The interim CEO was doing a fine job and many expected him to get a step-up to the top slot but that seat went Marissa?s way. Now that Marissa has stepped in, she will have plenty to do. The bucket list is not a shallow one for her to deal with and just like the previous CEOs she too may struggle to explain to investors what Yahoo?s priorities would be. Yahoo could never define clearly what it is going after?is the company betting first on technology, media or content? That question has not been answered as yet.
Yahoo still has the ammunition though. With 700 million users, no one can write it off. Yahoo?s e-mail service is still hugely popular. Yahoo Finance and Sports are high quality products as well. At Google, Marissa took care of stuff like its hugely successful search engine business, Gmail and maps; hence there is no prize for guessing that she will look to maximise Yahoo?s product play and much of that could happen in the mobile space.
The results for the quarter were just a bit disappointing, though not surprising. Barclays stated in a note that the mere 1% growth in display revenue was not unexpected, keeping in mind the slowdown in online advertising prices. The company earned $227 million, a 4% decrease from a year ago. Yahoo?s stock has been falling steadily in the past 5 years. These are huge challenges. A pregnant Marissa will have to keep her focus on the job at hand, though she has already said that she would not take too much of a maternity leave.
Levinsohn is probably wondering why he didn?t make the cut, but it is easy to see why that choice has been made. Marissa knows Google inside out, having spent many years there. Knowing what Google will do and will not do, will be a key factor for Yahoo. Levinsohn does not have that advantage. Marissa should know that she has to make Yahoo a cool place to work in?the way it was?a decade ago. Today?s young techies want to work at Apple, Google and Facebook and Marissa will have to exhibit the charisma required to draw these top talents to Yahoo.
Her baby is due in October. And for Yahoo, it?s time it delivered the right results.