Yahoo Strikes Deal With Starboard to Avert Boardroom Battle

Marissa Mayer

Yahoo has averted a potentially transformative battle with activist shareholder Starboard Value by appointing four new directors the hedge fund suggested. As a result, Starboard will drop its fight to replace the entire board.

“This constructive resolution will allow management and the board to keep our focus on our extremely important objectives,”Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, said in a statement. “Management is looking forward to working with the entire board, including the new directors, to maximize shareholder value.”

Last month, Starboard Value launched what’s known as a proxy fight, asking fellow shareholders to remove the current board and install its own slate of nine candidates. The hedge fund, which holds a 1.7 percent stake in the company, said a board overhaul “is desperately needed to hold management accountable” at the time.

Yahoo is in the middle of an auction that could sell off its core Internet business. Since CEO Marissa Mayer took the company’s helm in 2012, the one-time search giant has been under scrutiny to reinvent itself for the mobile age. But Mayer’s strategies, like pricey start-up takeovers, amped up news and video content, and a portfolio of new apps, haven’t translated to meaningful growth.

Also Read: Yahoo Activist Investor Wages Battle to Kick Out Board

Wednesday, Yahoo said that Starboard’s CEO and chief investment officer Jeffrey C. Smith would be among those joining the board, as well as its Strategic Review Committee, which is overseeing the sale process.

“I am pleased that we were able to reach a constructive agreement with Yahoo to add new independent directors to the Yahoo Board,” Smith said. “We look forward to getting started right away and working closely with management and our fellow board members with the common goal of maximizing value for all shareholders.”

Also Read: Daily Mail Sits Out Yahoo Bidding (Report)

The remaining three new directors are investment banker Tor R. Braham; a former chief executive of the Tribune Publishing Company, Eddy W. Hartenstein; and veteran technology executive Richard S. Hill.

Yahoo said that at its annual meeting, two current directors will not stand for re-election, so that the board will ultimately have a total of 11 members.

“We are pleased to welcome these four new highly respected, independent directors to our board,” said Yahoo chairman Maynard Webb. “The additional board members will bring valuable experience and perspectives to Yahoo during this important time for our company.”

10 'Game of Thrones' Characters Most and Least Likely to Die, According to Science (Photos)

So, did Jon Snow really die in "Game of Thrones" season finale? Did Sansa survive her leap from Winterfell's wall? Before Sunday's return of the series starts unraveling those mysteries, researchers at a German university say their algorithm knows the answers. A student team at the Technical University of Munich analyzed data on all the "Game of Thrones" characters and built a machine-learning program that gives each one a percentage chance of survival or doom. Who is the most and least likely to die next?
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This boy king is virtually dead already. Tommen Baratheon has a 97 percent likelihood of dying, according to the algorithm. Considering his grandfather, father, older brother and sister have all been murdered, and basically every person with any power in Westeros is vying to steal his seat on the Iron Throne, this doom may not be the biggest surprise.

Also Read: ‘Game of Thrones': Most Upsetting, Shocking and Disturbing Deaths So Far (Photos)
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Tommen's uncle, Stannis, is a close runner-up in the algorithm's ranking of who's next to die. He has a 96 percent chance of being offed. Of course, our last glimpse of Stannis was of him lying defenseless on the ground as Brienne of Tarth swung her sword at him for the kill, so...

Also Read: All 47 ‘Game of Thrones’ Main Characters, Ranked Worst to Best (Photos)
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It doesn't look good for fan favorite Khaleesi. Daenerys Targaryen has a 95 percent of dying, putting her at No. 3 in the close race to the grave.
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Davos Seaworth, Stannis Baratheon's once right-hand deputy, has a 91 percent chance of doom. After barely surviving the battle at King's Landing in Season 2, this Onion Knight may not have long left.
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Petyr Baelish's cunning vaulted him to money and power, and it's saved him from more than one dire scrape. But he has a 91 percent likelihood of dying, according to the algorithm, so his wiles may not get him much farther.
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Among those most likely to survive, Roose Bolton is No. 5 on the "might just make it" list. And even though he makes it into that elusive top 5, he still has a 28 percent likelihood of dying.
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Margaery Tyrell's fate is rosier than her young husband, Tommen, at a 64 percent likelihood of dying. Her father, though, has the best chances in the Tyrell family, at only 18 percent doomed.
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Most people love to hate Cersei Lannister, but her conniving ways earn her a solid chance of surviving. She is only 16 percent likely to die, putting her at No. 3 on the list of survivors.
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Bless the all-knowing algorithm! Jon Snow is alive! At least, there's only an 11 percent chance that the Night's Watch mutiny that left him bleeding in the snow actually killed him. Only one other character has a better likelihood of survival.
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Place your bets now. Although she jumped from the heights of Winterfell's high wall in the finale of the last season, machine learning assures us Sansa is the most likely character of all to survive the "Song of Ice and Fire." She her likelihood of death is only 3 percent.
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Is Jon Snow dead or alive? A machine-learning algorithm pegs the percentage chance of every “Game of Thrones” character surviving or perishing

So, did Jon Snow really die in "Game of Thrones" season finale? Did Sansa survive her leap from Winterfell's wall? Before Sunday's return of the series starts unraveling those mysteries, researchers at a German university say their algorithm knows the answers. A student team at the Technical University of Munich analyzed data on all the "Game of Thrones" characters and built a machine-learning program that gives each one a percentage chance of survival or doom. Who is the most and least likely to die next?

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