Yahoo CFO Predicts Win in Mexico Case – as Top Lawyer Quits

Ken Goldman, Yahoo's chief financial officer, says the company has set no money aside in case it loses

Yahoo's chief financial officer said on Monday that the company has not set aside any money to pay a Mexican communications mogul suing it for billions — even as news emerged that Yahoo's top lawyer in Mexico has left for Google.

Yahoo UKCFO Ken Goldman (left) said in the company's fourth-quarter earnings call Monday that it "made no accrual" for the $2.7 billion that Carlos Bazan-Canabal is demanding after Yahoo broke off a plan to create online telephone directories with him.

Goldman's optimism came as Yahoo's top legal representative in Mexico City, Maria Andrea Valles, changed her LinkedIn page to say she has moved on to Google. A Google spokeswoman confirmed the hire, but declined to comment further. Yahoo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Last November, a Mexican district court awarded the full damages to Bazan-Canabal's Worldwide Directories. Yahoo said it would appeal the decision.

Also read: Yahoo Beats Expectations With Q4 Revenue of $1.22B

"Yahoo believes the plaintiffs' claims are without merit and will vigorously pursue all appeals," it said in a statement after the ruling.

Business Insider, which first reported the news of Valles's departure, said that a group of Yahoo's lawyers gathered in Mexico late last month to respond to the lawsuit.

Valles worked for Yahoo as a legal counsel, then as an in-house lawyer, since 2008, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Yahoo is fighting the case as it attempts to expand internationally. During Monday afternoon's earnings call with investor, CEO Marissa Mayer said the company's top three priorities, in order, were to increase its user base, grow internationally and appeal to a broader demographic.

Comments