NEW YORK – With Yahoo struggling and up for sale, CEO Marissa Mayer’s pay was docked by $6 million last year.
It’s a 15 percent pay cut for a chief executive who hasn’t been able to stop the failing technology behemoth’s free fall.
She still made $36 million in a year when the value of her company’s stock fell by 33 percent.
Yahoo revealed Mayer’s total 2015 compensation when it updated its annual report on Friday evening.
The company did not respond to CNNMoney’s requests for comment.
There’s lots of attention on Mayer’s pay, because her tenure at Yahoo could soon be over. Her four-year odyssey to improve Yahoo’s finances hasn’t worked.
The company has spent billions of dollars buying promising firms and hiring well-known media personalities. It started focusing on mobile and video. Yet the company’s core business — internet advertising — has been completely overtaken by Facebook and Google.
While Yahoo treads water, it’s the tiny Silicon Valley players that are landing the huge deals, like Snapchat partnering with NBC for Olympics coverage.
In an effort to cut costs, Yahoo fired 15 percent of its staff earlier this year. The latest numbers were abysmal, with Yahoo posting a $99 million loss in the first quarter of 2016. As a result, Mayer has said that selling Yahoo is now “a top priority.”
It’s gotten so bad that activist investors have swooped in, and Mayer’s arch-nemesis is now her boss. Activist hedge fund manager Jeff Smith, who has long fought with Mayer over control of Yahoo, has joined the company’s board, along with three other executives chosen by him.
At this point, Mayer could actually make more money this year if she’s ousted from the company. Last month, CNNMoney found that Mayer could take home $37 million as a severance package.
