Investor Wants Yahoo to Cut 9,000 Jobs, Find New CEO
Yahoo needs to find a new CEO and eliminate 9,000 jobs, or 75% of its workforce, according to one investor. Eric Jackson, managing director at SpringOwl Asset Management, which is not a major Yahoo shareholder, has called for the changes days after Yahoo announced plans to buoy up the struggling company.
Yahoo had contemplated spinning off its stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba, but concerns about tax implications stalled those plans. Last week, the company announced it would consider a reverse spinoff that would transfer assets and liabilities separate from its Alibaba stake into a new company and invest in areas to drive long-term growth.
Yahoo's larger shareholders, Starboard Value and Canyon Capital Advisors, say the company should look at spinning off its core Internet business.
The proposed job cuts under Jackson's plan would eliminate almost $2B in annual costs, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal. He also calls for selling Yahoo's Sunnyvale HQ and leasing a smaller office space. He argues that such changes would put the company in a better position to be acquired as opposed to spinning off its core business now. [SVBJ]
