Yahoo faced some turmoil after several executives left the company, but now the company says the event was the result of "careful planning."
Yahoo, a company once at the top of the food chain, has lost significant ground in recent years. CEO Marissa Mayer has been trying to revive the company's ailing business and reshape its future, but most are still skeptical of Yahoo's ability to bring back its glory days.
The company's stock tumbled recently amid growing concerns regarding its leadership team, as the executive exodus had investors question Yahoo's ability to make its planned comeback.
Yahoo has now addressed these concerns during its Q3 conference call, after announcing its results for the third quarter of 2015. CEO Marissa Mayer said that speculation and interest in the company's management shuffle has risen. Mayer noted that this wasn't cause for worry because Yahoo planned everything and has the issue covered. According to the CEO, Yahoo's leadership team is now at its strongest.
The company's official Twitter account echoed Mayer's comments, posting a tweet with the same message citing "careful planning."
"Changes in $YHOO leadership team are the result of careful planning to achieve the necessary skills, passion & ability to execute growth," said Yahoo.
The comments are widely seen as an attack to the executives who recently left the company, although neither Mayer nor Yahoo's tweet called them out by name. Nevertheless, the executive departures, which have been highly mediatized, are no longer concealed from the public.
The comments are seen as a subtle way of saying the executives who departed did not have the necessary skills, passion and ability.
Jackie Reses, for instance, recently left her position as Yahoo Chief Development Officer and joined Square Capital. Lisa Light, SVP of Marketing Partnerships left the company last week, Chief Marketing Officer Kathy Savitt left Yahoo last month, Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos left Yahoo for Facebook earlier this year, and advertising execs Bruno Fernando Ruiz and Mike Kerns ditched Yahoo for startups.
Marissa Mayer handpicked most of these executives, which makes these comments and thinly-veiled jabs even more surprising.
Nevertheless, Yahoo seems confident in moving forward and hopes that the new deal it signed with Google will help fuel the company's growth and keep its head above the water, especially after seeing a revenue drop in the third quarter.
