Yahoo must be having a roller-coaster week.
A day after the company revealed its decision to abandon plans to spin off its Alibaba stakes, CEO Marissa Mayer also announced on her social media accounts that she had given birth to twin girls.
"Zack and I are excited to announce that our identical twin girls were born early this morning," tweeted Mayer on Dec. 10, mentioning her husband Zachary Brogue. "Our whole family is doing great!"
When Mayer left Google and began her stint as Yahoo's CEO three years ago, she was in a similar position - caught between her personal and professional life. A few months after Mayer took on the helm of the biggest Web portal in the United States, she had her first child.
In September this year, Mayer announced her pregnancy. At that time, scrutiny of Yahoo was elevating. Mayer's main goal when she came aboard Yahoo was to turn around the struggling company, but it is still well behind Facebook and Google in terms of online advertising and other aspects.
Yahoo revealed on Wednesday, Dec. 9, that instead of selling its $31 billion stake in Chinese company Alibaba Group Holding Limited, it chooses to spin off its Internet operations into a separate company. This move will happen sometime in 2016 or 2017 if Yahoo can gain all the required approvals.
At such a crucial point in Yahoo's timeline, Mayer is expected to take a maternity leave that will last for only a few weeks. She said she will still be working throughout her rest.
With the birth of her son Macallister in 2012, Mayer took a leave of two weeks. Yahoo offers a paid maternity leave of up to 16 weeks for birth mothers.
Mayer stirred controversy back then due to her limited maternal leave. Some critics slammed Mayer's decision, saying it had set a bad example for women who were recovering from childbirth. Others said it was her choice to do what she thought was best for her life and the company.
Meanwhile, aside from overseeing the spinoff of Yahoo's Internet operations, Mayer is also creating plans for a cost-cutting overhaul that will possibly lay off hundreds of employees and shed unprofitable products. Next month, Mayer will share details of the company's reorganization.
Mayer's appointment as CEO three years ago was seen as some kind of saving grace for Yahoo, experts said, but now, investors are echoing concerns about her leadership. Analysts were quick to say that Mayer has at least one year to strengthen Yahoo's revenues once again.
Photo: Magnus Höij | Flickr
