Yahoo s embattled CEO Marissa Mayer is expected to lay out her strategy for reviving the Sunnyvale Internet giant and counter an unhappy investor during Tuesday s third-quarter earnings report.
Mayer is expected to provide more information about her acquisitions strategy and cost-cutting measures, the Wall Street Journal reports. The newspaper said Mayer will defend her acquisitions as a way of hiring talent.
In a letter sent to Mayer and Yahoo s board of directors Sept. 26, Starboard Value s chief Jeffrey Smith criticized Mayer for spending big bucks acquiring companies that haven t produced much revenue. He is urging Mayer and Yahoo s board to acquire AOL, another struggling Internet platform. Smith claims a merger could save the two companies $1 billion in overhead.
Mayer responded with a note saying she will review Starboard s letter carefully and look forward to discussing it with them. A meeting is scheduled later this month, the Journal said, citing sources.
Starboard s letter was triggered in part by differing visions for the money Yahoo realized from the sale of shares in Asian internet retailer Alibaba at its recent IPO. Yahoo realized $9.4 billion from the sale of some of Yahoo s shares its Alibaba stock, and says that about half, or $3 billion after taxes, will be returned to investors. That leaves the rest available for acquisitions or other spending to improve the company s bottom line.
Yahoo still has another $33 billion in Alibaba shares which it can t access for a year. Starboard says it has a tax-advantaged scheme for selling those shares in which Yahoo s investors would be saved $16 billion.
Photo of Marissa Mayer from Associated Press
