AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer
There's a lucrative pay package waiting for Marissa Mayer if she gets fired. On Monday, Verizon announced that it will buy Yahoo for $4.83 billion in cash. But what's not clear is what will happen to embattled Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.
In an email on Monday, Mayer told Yahoo employees she would stay on. "For me personally, I'm planning to stay," Mayer wrote. "I love Yahoo, and I believe in all of you. It's important to me to see Yahoo into its next chapter."
But it might not be up to her.
Sources told Recode's Kara Swisher that Mayer "would likely go after the deal is officially struck in six to nine months." The New York Times also reported on Sunday that Mayer was "not expected to join Verizon." Even if Mayer gets ousted, her golden parachute might take out a bit of the sting.
According to a Yahoo SEC filing, Mayer will get a $54.9 million severance package if she's fired from Yahoo. This scenario is only triggered if there is both a "change in control" (new owner) and a "termination" (she gets fired).
On CNBC on Monday, Mayer said her two immediate goals were seeing the transaction through to the close, while managing the value of Yahoo's Asian assets. But after the sale, she said she was "very open-minded." That suggests a possible exit from the company.
Mayer's compensation package was worth $36 million in 2015.