
Yahoo shares reach 18-month high as investors warm to new CEO - ssclafani
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/19/us-yahoo-shares-idUSBRE8AI14F20121119
======
jval
I don't think Yahoo is going anywhere.

No amount of celebrity CEO newspaper pieces will change the fact that Yahoo's
has: \- no valuable proprietary technology \- no network effects with users \-
no supply chain or scale/cost advantages; and \- a brand which is of waning
value.

I'm still not sure why they sold their stake in Alibaba Group. In addition to
Alibaba itself, the company has some great Chinese e-commerce assets in the
form of Taobao and Tmall, and Yahoo could have been a great partner for a
westward expansion. Maybe I'm being too ambitious here but I think that was
probably the clearest shot they had at doing something which was sustainably
profitable. Probably already out of Marissa's hands by the time she took over
though.

~~~
rpm4321
My impression was that they were pressured into selling off their shares of
Alibaba in order to generate cash to buy off some activist shareholders with
either a dividend or share buyback. Marissa then reconsidered after taking the
helm, and they are now in a holding pattern.

------
jeremyrwelch
I disagree jval. Yahoo still has heavy proprietary tech in its ad systems such
as Right Media, and they still are one of the best web media properties in the
world as recognized by advertisers and advertising agencies responsible for
spending billions in ad dollars (most tech geeks are not aware of Yahoo's
heavy role in ad tech).

If Marissa can bring parts of Google's hard driving culture to this company,
it will do well.

She's already recruiting some great people, such as veteran De Castro and
young gun Robbie Stein (who used to be product manager on Google's Ad
Exchange) and his Stamped team.

If she can hold on to the reigns and keep this pace of change for at least
another 12 months, I think the future is bright for Yahoo.

------
sabat
And so much at Yahoo has actually changed since Ms. Marissa took the reins.

Oh, wait.

