(Reuters) — Yahoo’s getting a new name, and it’s shrinking its board. It’ll rename itself Altaba after it closes its $4.8 billion deal with Verizon. CEO Marissa Mayer will step down from its board, and several other directors including co-founder David Filo, will leave as well.
The new name perhaps partly reflects where the company gets its value, Alibaba. Altaba will be a holding company. Its main assets: a 15 percent stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba and a nearly 36 percent stake in Yahoo Japan.
Back in July, Yahoo agreed to sell to Verizon its core Internet business that includes its services like email and finance and sports websites. That deal’s terms could be amended or even called off after Yahoo suffered two massive data breaches. Verizon is still investigating those breaches.
Regarding the new name and the smaller board, Pivotal Research’s senior analyst Brian Wieser said, “They obviously needed something other than Yahoo. And it’s a financial asset management firm with two assets. What was anyone expecting?”
Yahoo shares rising at the start of trading.
