Dan Loeb’s hedge fund, Third Point, purchased another massive lump of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) stock on Tuesday. The purchase, totaling $39.4 million, makes Third Point’s shares equal to more than $1.1 billion dollars, according to Tuesday’s closing prices.
This purchase by Loeb’s group, only seems to show how strongly he endorses Marissa Mayer as the new CEO of Yahoo. Mayer’s replacement of Ross Levinsohn came after a rather scandalous de-throning of former CEO, Scott Thompson, which was brought to fruition by Loeb himself. Loeb exposed the fact that Thompson had lied about the education he had received, when he was hired for the position.
Mayer was stolen from the top ranks of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), and was named CEO of Yahoo effective the following day. Many people believe that Loeb was working closely with Mayer to plan her appointment to the top spot at Yahoo. This additional investment of his company, definitely shows that he has faith in her abilities to turn Yahoo, who is slowly being pushed down by Google.
While Mayer may be a young 37 year old mother to be, she’s definitely not lost in the world of corporate entities. Her salary was set at $1 million annually, plus perks, not typical of someone who doesn’t feel comfortable in the boardroom. Loeb made his selection for CEO very carefully, and the choice he made is a strong one. Mayer has developmental skills that are the best in her category, and has strong leadership capabilities.
Loeb’s investment in more stock only seems to show that he also sees Mayer as Yahoo’s hope for the future.
