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Verizon closes Yahoo deal and forms Oath as Marissa Mayer walks away with $23m

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By Rebecca Stewart, Trends Editor

June 13, 2017 | 4 min read

Verizon has officially completed its $4.5bn acquisition of Yahoo, with the latter's former chief executive Marissa Mayer resigning as part of the process.

Verizon closes Yahoo deal and forms Oath as Marissa Mayer walks away with $23m

Marissa Mayer's "golden parachute" is worth $23m

The completion comes months after it was confirmed that Verizon will merge Yahoo with its AOL assets to form a subsidiary called Oath; a fresh proposition which will be let be ex-AOL chief Tim Armstrong.

Verizon said that given the "inherent change" to Mayer's role with Yahoo as a result of the transaction meant she had chosen to resign. Her departure is far from surprising, with both parties having previously announced she would step down once the deal had closed.

As per Yahoo's previous filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) it is estimated that Mayer's "golden parachute" payout will amount to more than $23m.

In a farewell letter to staff on Tumblr the former boss said: "It’s been my great honor and privilege to be a part of this team for the last 5 years. Together, we have rebuilt, reinvented, strengthened, and modernized our products, our business, and our company."

Falling under Oath's banner will be a portfolio of media and tech brands including HuffPost, Yahoo Sports, Tumblr, Build Studios and more.

In a statement today (13 June), which followed on from Yahoo shareholder approval last week, Armstrong said: "Now that the deal is closed, we are excited to set our focus on being the best company for consumer media, and the best partner to our advertising, content and publisher partners."

Armstrong has been leading integration planning teams since the Yahoo transaction was announced last July. Over the past few months he has been establishing a leadership team for Oath. At the moment this will see Yahoo vice-president of engineering, Atte Lahtiranta, leading tech; president for Verizon digital media devices Ralf Jacob managing digital media, and AOL president Tim Mahlman to heading up ad tech.

Speaking to The Drum last year Armstrong said his revived offering must ignite a challenger mentality against the behemoths of Facebook and Google.

"If Facebook is about social and Google is about search, then we want to be about brand," he said at the time. "We will have a totally differentiated strategy and that strategy will enable the best brands in the world to have brand metrics, brand planning, brand ROI and brand interactions with consumers that are very unique from Google and Facebook."

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