Marissa Mayer Hires Google Exec As Yahoo COO

Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer has turned to the ranks of her former employer Google for her latest executive hire, bringing on board Henrique de Castro as Yahoo’s new chief operating officer, the company announced on Monday.

Mayer has made other top appointments since taking the helm of Yahoo in July, but de Castro marks the first time she has turned to Google for executive talent.

Big compensation package

De Castro will receive a $600,000 (£373,000) base salary and a potential annual bonus of up to $540,000, as well as a compensation package worth about $58m, according to a Yahoo regulatory filing on Monday. The package includes stock options and restricted stock valued at $36m as well as a $1m cash bonus, according to Yahoo.

As an incentive to remain with the company, most of de Castro’s package consists of stock and options that will vest over the next four years.

De Castro, who will join Yahoo on or before 22 January, is currently vice president of Google’s worldwide partner business solutions group, where he has been responsible for advertising platforms and services for publisher and commerce partners. Previously he led Google’s media, mobile and platforms organisation.

Prior to working at Google de Castro managed sales and business development operations across Western Europe for Dell and consulted for McKinsey & Company.

Mayer said she hired de Castro for his experience in Internet advertising and in structuring international organisations. “Henrique is… the perfect fit for Yahoo! as we propel the business to its next phase of growth,” she said in a statement.

Advertising slump

Mayer is looking to bring stability to Yahoo’s upper executive ranks, following turbulence brought on by the company’s difficulties in attracting advertisers amidst the loss of users to the likes of Google and Facebook. Mayer is Yahoo’s fifth chief executive in four years.

She hired Kathy Savitt as chief marketing officer in August, followed by chief financial officer Ken Goldman in September.

Henrique de Castro’s appointment came on Mayer’s first day back in the office after a maternity leave lasting all of two weeks, which has provoked outrage and approval from different sources. On 30 September, she gave birth to a baby boy, who reportedly is still awaiting a name.

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In the meantime, however, other Yahoo executives have continued to flee the company, including Adam Bechtel, who was VP of infrastructure at Yahoo, and Jonathan Katzman, one of the troubled firm’s key social executives.

Mayer is scheduled to discuss Yahoo’s third-quarter earnings on 22 October, when she is expected to give further details of her plans for turning the company around.

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