
Mozilla could walk away with $1B if it doesn’t like Yahoo’s buyer (2016) - Redoubts
https://www.recode.net/2016/7/7/12116296/marissa-mayer-deal-mozilla-yahoo-payment
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awalton
The tl;dr here is simple: Mozilla made a hedge that Yahoo! would sell
themselves to someone terrible during the period of their contract, Yahoo!
did, and Mozilla collected on the proceeds to the tune of $350 million-ish
USD.

It was a gamble Yahoo! was desperate to take, so they did, and it didn't pay
off in the long run (especially since for a large number of users it simply
meant a one-time nuisance of switching the search provider back to a real
search engine).

But Mozilla made out like bandits on the deal due to their executives smartly
calling the future of Yahoo!. Good on them.

~~~
Eridrus
I think people on HN drastically overestimate the number of people who
switched their search engine after this.

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Redoubts
News from 2016, but given that the yahoo contract was supposed to extend until
2019, yet Mozilla is now switching its default provider to Google, I found
this article highly relevant.

~~~
mtmail
Can you add "(2016)" to the title? (I hope they get the $1B)

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Spivak
> According to the change-of-control term, 9.1 in the agreement, Mozilla has
> the right to leave the partnership if — under its sole discretion and in a
> certain time period — it did not deem the new partner acceptable. And if it
> did that, even if it struck another search deal, Yahoo is still obligated to
> pay out annual revenue guarantees of $375 million.

How desperate must Yahoo have been to agree to these terms? Did Mayer really
not know they were going to sell? Because even if they thought Mozilla would
like the new owner this contract still incentivizes them to walk and collect
two cheques.

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mankash666
Despite Yahoo being a terrible company, it's someone else's money! Do the
right thing Mozilla - don't steal, even if your contact allows you to

~~~
Tomte
It's not "someone else's money". It's Yahoo's (or Yahoo buyer's) money.

And that money has been priced into the buying price of Yahoo, as the article
shows.

I'm strongly in favor of Mozilla taking that money and doing awesome things
with it.

~~~
Bartweiss
Yahoo signed a risky contract, and not because they were tricked. They were
trying to improve their odds of a good outcome, and hedged for that by
offering a payout in the event of a bad outcome. Mozilla has every reason to
exercise what was basically a clause designed to protect them in this exact
situation.

(And admittedly, I'm pleased to see Mozilla get a payday that'll help them
keep the browser market competitive.)

