
Yahoo Had a Party - jackgavigan
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/yahoo-had-a-party
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bko
There was a great article in the NYT talking about the troubles at Yahoo. On
Mayer's tenure:

> She paid about $3 billion for acquisitions of companies you’ve mostly never
> heard of, like Aviate, Polyvore and Distill (and one company you may have
> heard of, Tumblr). She spent $9.4 billion on stock buybacks; over the last
> two years, when the stock was trading higher, the buybacks have been a $2.5
> billion money-losing trade. About $365 million of compensation went to Ms.
> Mayer herself, assuming she stays for an additional year and a half. And
> $109 million to an executive she hired to be her chief operating officer,
> who was then summarily fired 15 months later. An estimated $450 million on
> free food for the staff. And, depending on whom you believe, double-digit
> millions of dollars on parties and events, including a “Great Gatsby”-themed
> holiday party several weeks ago that was held with no apparent irony.

[0]
[http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/business/dealbook/diagnosi...](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/business/dealbook/diagnosing-
yahoos-ills-ugly-math-in-mayers-reign.html)

~~~
usefulcat
Just to give those numbers some context, the stock market currently values
Yahoo's core business at around $1.7B:

[http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-12-02/yahoo-is-
lo...](http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-12-02/yahoo-is-looking-for-
a-new-way-around-alibaba-taxes)

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calbear81
It appears the author doesn't really know enough about the neighborhoods to
call the Dogpatch "no-man's land". Tales of being potentially stranded at Pier
70 are nonsense. There's a thriving food/bar/climbing scene a block away on
3rd not to mention the Muni T-rail runs down 3rd all the way into Downtown and
22nd St. Caltrain Station is a few blocks west of the pier.

~~~
Apocryphon
Dogwatch is like a newly-gentrified expensive hotspot. I question the author's
knowledge of SF, as well.

~~~
vidoc
to be honest, if the guy lives in russian hill, the dogpatch with its handful
of wannabee hipster places _is_ a no man's land.

and the T line -> haha

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jazzyk
If I were a Yahoo shareholder, I would throw a hissy fit.

Total lack of judgement on M. Mayer's part - whether it is lavishly spending
money or the Queen-like outfit/pose/setting. I am sure it made Yahoo's
employees day to have a picture with her </s>.

BTW, I am not saying companies should not have holiday parties - just exercise
better judgement, in particular when they are in dire straits as Yahoo is.

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samfisher83
The core business generates about a billion dollars in cash. They aren't in
that dire straights.They might not be growing, but they aren't dying.

~~~
tryitnow
It's more about the "optics" as they say. A celebration of this sort is
warranted when you're at the top of your game, not when you're a well-known
mediocrity.

And frankly speaking, a billion in cash is a lot less than one would expect
from a top Internet brand.

Relatively speaking, they are in dire straights.

~~~
dajohnson89
Holiday parties are often seen as good for morale.

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willow9886
Best of all, I found this article on....Yahoo.

