Yahoo Inc board member and activist hedge fund manager Dan Loeb was supportive of the decision allowing Chief Executive Marissa Mayer to re-evaluate plans for the cash it gets for selling a portion of its Alibaba Groupstake, according to a source familiar with the board’s thinking.<\/p>\n
Yahoo said on Thursday it might rethink its previously announced plans to return the multibillion dollar cash windfall to shareholders.<\/p>\n
Shares of Yahoo were down 5.8 percent to $15.08 in midday trading on Friday as some investors were disappointed about the potential change in plans for the cash.<\/p>\n
Yahoo struck a deal with Alibaba in May in which Yahoo was to sell one-half of its 40 percent stake in the Chinese Internet company for at least $6.3 billion in cash and up to $800 million in new Alibaba preferred stock.<\/p>\n
The board of directors, including Loeb, backs Mayer’s long-term vision for Yahoo, the source noted. That vision could include more creative uses of the Alibaba cash than undertaking a share buyback, the source added.<\/p>\n
The source declined to be named due to lack of authorization to speak about board deliberations.<\/p>\n
Some analysts expect Mayer to use the cash to finance new acquisitions.<\/p>\n
Mayer, a former Google Inc executive, was hired in July to revamp Yahoo. A one-time Web pioneer, Yahoo has seen its revenue fall amid competition from Google and Facebook Inc, and changes in the online advertising market.<\/p>\n
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