Marissa Mayer's Yahoo pay-off cut in half

$55m pay-off cut to $23m after Verizon re-negotiates purchase price

Marissa Mayer's pay-off after selling the bulk of Yahoo to telecoms giant Verizon has been cut from $55m to $23m after purchaser Verizon re-negotiated the deal at the eleventh hour.

The telecoms company negotiated a $350m discount, cutting the price tag to $4.48bn, and persuaded the rump of Yahoo - a large, but valuable stake in Chinese ecommerce company Alibaba, its stake in Yahoo Japan and a portfolio of patents - to share any liabilities that might arise from the security breaches that almost derailed the entire deal.

Back in January it was reported that Mayer, CEO of Yahoo since 2012, was in line to pick up a $55m 'golden parachute' when the deal concluded, which would also coincide with her departure from the rump company.

But Mayer's pay-off appears to have been cut after news of major security breaches leaked out, potentially affecting more than one billion Yahoo accounts - largely Ymail email accounts. Mayer also lost out on a cash bonus as a result of the security breaches, which occurred on her watch and which were covered up at the time. The bonus was guestimated at $12m.

However, Mayer has nevertheless earned some $150m from her role at Yahoo since she was appointed CEO in 2012, and that comes on top of the $300m or so she reportedly scooped up working at Google.

It is unclear whether Mayer will continue to be involved in the part of Yahoo sold to Verizon. When the deal was announced back in July 2016, she indicated that she would continue to be involved in the organisation after its sale to Verizon. But it was unclear then - and remains unclear - wh at role she would play.

When the acquisition was first announced in July following an auction of the assets, Mayer said that she planned to "see Yahoo into its next chapter".