Marissa Mayer Is A MILF $YHOO

No doubt Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is a hot new mom, but she’s also a Mom I’d Like To Fire. At least one that Eric Jackson and a few other Yahoo shareholders would like to fire.

Jackson and his SpringOwl hedge fund put together the 99-page presentation on how to turnaround Yahoo. Priority number one is getting rid of Marissa. I have to give mad props to Jackson for sticking by Yahoo for so long. He’s been talking about Yahoo for years on Forbes.

It’s finally his time to shine. He’s quietly threatened a proxy battle. Although his fund only has a small Yahoo position, he’ll likely look to rally his 22,000 Twitter followers. Jackson has until Jan. 31 to decide whether he’ll wage the proxy battle.

In any case, Yahoo is set on spinning off the core business – something Jackson, correctly, notes would be a taxable event and is against. Yahoo has some interest in its core business – only a few private equity players, but still something. Nonetheless, Yahoo CFO Ken Goldman is turning everyone away. You call into Yahoo and Ken is telling you the core business is not for sale. This goes against what Canyon Capital and Starboard Value would like to see happen – both of which would like to see the core business sold.

The problem is, something has to happen – whether it be a spinoff or sale. Meaning,  Jackson won’t get the chance to force Yahoo into his 9-step, 99-page, turnaround plan, which includes not only getting rid of Marissa and bringing in an “operator” as CEO, but also includes potentially partnering up with John Malone’s Liberty Media.

I think Jackson can’t get the support of Jeff Smith’s Starboard Value because he hasn’t addressed the big overhang; how do you really turnaround a company like Yahoo? Jackson’s plan reads a lot like a private equity playbook, in which case, why not turn the core biz over to private equity buyers and GTFO while it’s still possible.

Here’s the best way to think about the Jackson-Yahoo plan: “These investors aren’t platform experts…they just want to cut costs and then sell off the business. The investor doesn’t have any valuable guidance on how Yahoo can grow its platform businesses. So, this deck could really be 5 slides telling Yahoo how to cut costs and then sell its assets.”

I’m not sure where this goes in 2016, but I do believe something has to be done sooner rather than later. That likely means a sell or spin of its core business. The time for turnarounds is over.