Yahoo will be renamed Altaba after Verizon acquisition

Washington: It's virtually the end of an era and the dawn of a new one as Yahoo would rename itself as Altaba, while its chief executive officer Marissa Mayer would step down from the board once its deal is through with Verizon Communications.

Yahoo has a deal to sell its core internet business, which includes its digital advertising, email and media assets, to Verizon for $4.83 billion.

However, Verizon executives have said that while they see a strong strategic fit with Yahoo, they are still investigating the data breaches. The terms of that deal could be amended - or the transaction even scrapped- as Yahoo last year disclosed two separate data breaches; one involving some 500 million customer accounts and the second involving over a billion.

Five other Yahoo directors would also resign on closure of the deal, Yahoo said in a regulatory filing.

* Founded in January 1994
* Originally called 'Jerry and David's guide to the WWW
* Yahoo is actually an acronym
* Yahoo owners considered buying Google twice
* Rejected $45 billion acquisition offer from Microsoft
* Bought 53 companies under CEO Marissa Mayer

Yahoo was founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo -- two electrical engineering graduates from Stanford University -- in January 1994.
Yahoo was originally called 'Jerry and David's guide to the World Wide Web'.

The acquisition of Yahoo, valued at $4.83 billion, will likely help Verizon morph into an internet media giant. It’ll also expectedly help the US telecom major go against the likes of Google and Facebook in the online ad market.

Yahoo is actually an acronym: It stands for 'Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle'.

Wonder how Yahoo got that exclamation behind its name? According to multiple reports, Yang and Filo added the exclamation mark at the end of Yahoo because the word 'Yahoo' was already owned by a company that made BBQ sauce.

Talk about missed opportunities. During a talk, former Yahoo CEO Terry Semel disclosed that the company considered buying Google before it went public. Semel had dinner with Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and he offered them to buy Google. Both Page and Brin reportedly replied that they wanted $1 billion and didn't want to sell. Another dinner followed and Semel agreed to pay $1 billion.

In February 2008, software giant Microsoft offered close to $45 billion for Yahoo. At the time, both companies were facing tough time in the internet search and ad market ruled by Google.

Microsoft thought that by joining forces the duo would be able to create a credible competitor. However, Yahoo rejected the offer.

Three months later, Microsoft added another $5 billion to the offer but the same was again rejected by Yahoo.

In 2005, Yahoo invested $1 billion in Alibaba, one of China's hottest startups at that time. The bet paid off spectacularly. Today, Yahoo holds 15% stake in the Chinese retailing giant Alibaba, worth almost $32 billion.

One of Yahoo’s priciest acquisitions ever was Broadcast.com. The company paid a whopping $5.7 billion for the company. Incidentally, the acquisition also figures in Forbes' list of technology industry's worst acquisitions.

During her four years as Yahoo’s CEO, Marissa Mayer went on an acquisition binge. Her reign saw Yahoo acquiring as many as 53 companies.

The remaining directors will govern Altaba, a holding company whose primary assets will be a 15% stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and 35.5% stake in Yahoo Japan.

The new company also named Eric Brandt chairman of the board, effective January 9.