Ex-Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Subpoenaed to Testify Before Congress

Exec was at the helm of Yahoo when 3 billion accounts were hacked in 2013

Marissa Mayer yahoo
Yahoo

Marissa Mayer is in Washington — not exactly by her choice.

The former Yahoo CEO has been subpoenaed to appear in front of the Senate Commerce Committee to testify on cybersecurity breaches on Wednesday after declining several requests to appear voluntarily.

Congress thinks Mayer is well-equipped to discuss the topic since she was at the helm of Yahoo in 2013, when 3 billion of its accounts had their data compromised by a hack. She was also in charge the following year, when another hack hit 500 million accounts.

The subpoena, first reported by The Hill, was issued on Oct. 25, after legislators repeatedly attempted to get Mayer to appear. There’s now a squabble over her decision to testify, with Mayer agreeing to speak after a Verizon representative — the company that took over Yahoo — had agreed to talk as well. But as of Tuesday, the subpoena was still in effect.

Yahoo’s major breach didn’t come to light until 2016, shaving $350 million off Verizon’s buyout price for the internet stalwart. Verizon ended up paying about $4.5 billion altogether.

The push to have Mayer testify comes on the heels of Equifax’s massive hack, which left nearly half of the U.S. population vulnerable to having their personal information stolen.

You can watch Mayer, as well as Equifax execs, testify on Wednesday here.

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