Wall Street seems to be largely unimpressed by last night’s announcement that former Google exec Marissa Mayer signed on to be Yahoo‘s fifth CEO in five years. The Internet company’s shares beat a quick retreat following a +1.3% open the morning. They’re now down more than 1% as investors await Yahoo’s Q2 earnings report after the market closes this afternoon. Several analysts say they’re taking a wait-and-see view of Mayer. Her background as an engineer “will give her credibility among Yahoo!’s staff and help her to focus the company’s efforts on creating new and innovative products,” says Barclays Equity Research’s Anthony DiClemente. But she has no experience running ad-based media content operations, which remain Yahoo’s “greatest assets for driving traffic.” And, unlike Google, “Yahoo! is a turn-around story,” says Bernstein Research’s Carlos Kirjner. “It is certainly not a rocket ship. Some will contend it is a sinking ship. It remains to be seen whether she can be an effective leader of a turn-around.” Mayer has a lot on her mind: She told Fortune magazine last night that she’s pregnant, with a boy due in early October. “My maternity leave will be a few weeks long and I’ll work throughout it,” she said.

No matter who Yahoo chooses, the question remains what is the vision for Yahoo and the roadmap to get there?
Congratulations, Marissa, and best wishes for your new baby. Both the job and the baby will be more time consuming than you have imagined. Let’s hope you and your board develop and execute a working plan for Yahoo. Presently, I will not be buying the stock.
RMS Titanic “Captain we are going down!”. USS Yahoo, “Captain we are going down!”, “Maybe changing Captains, make it will make a difference.”.
Pregnant women and chilren first!
I have a feeling Yahoo just made a genius move and that Marissa will turn this company around and then some. Yahoo’s sitting on an impressive internet news & media hub, as well as an email system that plenty of people still use. There’s a lot to work with here and Marissa’s had experience building out some of the best things on the internet.
Just don’t think this is going to work as she has a hefty task ahead of her in turning this sinking ship around and with her pregnancy and such, she’s going to be heavily distracted from performing her duties. What were the board members thinking when they nominated her for this position? Were they that hard up?
I think becoming a mom will be nothing but positive for Yahoo and for the world. It will inspire her in ways she never dreamed of yet, and God knows, she has proven herself as capable of turning her inspiration into reality.
Congratulation to Yahoo and Marissa!