Marissa Mayer

What a week it's been for the conversation about women and work. First, the backlash began for Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's book, " Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead ," in advance of its March 11 release. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote that the emerging guru on women's careers — who is also one of the world's wealthiest women — "doesn't understand the difference between a social movement and a social network marketing campaign. " Others scoffed that "this is simply the elite...

Yahoo Inc. lured Marissa Mayer from Google in July to become its fifth CEO in as many years. Her task: Help the Internet pioneer regain its stature after years in a financial funk. In her 10 months leading the company, she has overseen a redesign of Yahoo services and orchestrated several acquisitions, including a deal to buy online blogging forum Tumblr for $1.1 billion. Here are some of the milestones on her watch: — ALIBABA: In September, Yahoo completed a long-awaited, $7.6 billion...

Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer spoke Tuesday with employees to discuss her vision for the company. While Mayer had been expected to release specific details about products and strategies, reports say that she stuck to broader plans that outlined her general vision for the company. Unnamed Yahoo employees told All Things Digital's Kara Swisher that the chief focus is on personalization and making mobile Yahoo's main platform. Mayer said she wants to focus on the personalization that Yahoo has built with its e-mail service...

Yahoo is paying $1.1 billion to buy the popular blogging site Tumblr. It's part of Yahoo's comeback efforts, after years in a financial funk. Tumblr will give Yahoo more opportunities to sell advertising. Here's how the two companies compare: — TUMBLR FOUNDED: February 2007 by software consultant David Karp and Web developer Marco Arment. HEADQUARTERS: New York LEADERSHIP: Founder David Karp, 26, is CEO. He owns a 25 percent stake in the company. EMPLOYEES: 175 FINANCIALS:...

Analysts and members of the tech industry were upbeat on Marissa Mayer's appointment as Yahoo chief executive as she started work Tuesday. As the San Jose Mercury News reported, analysts had expected Yahoo to hand the role to interim CEO Ross Levinsohn, but were nevertheless optimistic about the impact Mayer could have on the company that, admittedly, needs a lot of work. Here are five challenges that Marissa Mayer faces as she steps up to the plate at Yahoo. 1) Direction: The 37-year-old Mayer is now charged with...

Marissa Mayer, why have you forsaken us? When the pregnant 37-year-old was named CEO of tech giant Yahoo last year , it was a cause for celebration for many working mothers. Here was a woman who had a marriage, an uber-high-profile job and a baby on the way. Finally, not only was there proof that women could have it all, but there was also a sense that Mayer would understand the difficulties of working mothers in the trenches — and presumably make it better for us. Then two weeks ago, Mayer ...

Our illustrious executive editor is on holiday; this week's Dylan's Desk op-ed column is written by VentureBeat's own Jolie O'Dell . In the end, Google simply didn't have room for Marissa Mayer. Monday, the ambitious executive shocked the tech world by leaving Google to become Yahoo's new CEO, a role she officially started Tuesday. As we published news of Mayer's move, we were bombarded with criticisms of her decision. The Internet in general lambasted the executive's choice, claiming that Yahoo was an inferior...

On Monday, Yahoo named Marissa Mayer, a longtime Googler, as its new chief executive. Mayer, 37, is well-known as Google's 20th employee and its first female engineer. She's been at Google for 13 years and spent much of her career there heading up Google's search team. In late 2010, Mayer was made the head of location and local services and was elevated to Google's small operating committee, signaling to some that Google was putting that section of the company into a more prominent position, while others saw it...

Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer has been changing a lot of things at the technology firm, and a report from Business Insider shares that she may be making yet one more change to the company culture. According to a memo obtained by the news site, Mayer has said that she'll give every Yahoo employee a new smartphone — as long as it's an Apple iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC One X, HTC EVO 4G LTE or a Nokia Lumia 920. Conspicuously absent from the list, of course, is the phone...

Jena McGregor is a columnist for the Washington Post's On Leadership section. Congratulations are in order for Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer , who gave birth to a baby boy Sunday night. But don't expect her to be gone for long: She reportedly intends to work remotely and return to the office " as soon as possible, likely in 1-2 weeks . " And right on cue, everyone has an opinion. Parental leave should be mandatory , some say. Others say Mayer is making a huge mistake ...

TECHNOLOGY Pentagon approves use of Apple devices The Defense Department said Friday that it has approved Apple devices for use on its networks, meaning that it can issue its employees iPhones and iPads at the office. Apple joins Samsung and BlackBerry on a short list of commercial smartphone makers whose devices, the Pentagon says, are secure enough for its workers to use. Apple iPhones and iPads running iOS 6 meet that standard, the Defense Department said in a news release.

Tumblr has been one of the fastest- growing sites on the Web, boasting 107.9 million blogs and a whopping 50.7 billion posts since it was founded in 2007. That growth has reportedly caught the eye of Web giant Yahoo. All Things Digital reported that Yahoo is eyeing the blogging platform, and reporters Peter Kafka and Kara Swisher said that "sources close to the situation" have said the two companies are in "serious" talks. Still, the report said, the negotiations are far from final.

The new CEO of a struggling Fortune 500 company in need of a turnaround recently decided to kill a popular flexible work program, even though it boosted employee productivity and morale, reduced turnover, cut costs and eased stress. Marissa Mayer , you say? The 37-year-old Silicon Valley wunderkind and new Yahoo CEO, whose decision to ban telework has been met with howls of outrage, accusations of betrayal and endless dissection in the media? Try Hubert Joly. Who? ...

Many this week celebrated the latest tech wunderkind, a British teenager who made a fortune selling an app that boils down news reports, no matter how important or complex, into a pithy 400 characters. But for some of those who prefer heartier servings of news, the development carried at least a whiff of the apocalypse. For perspective: On Summly, the app that Yahoo bought from 17-year-old Nick D'Aloisio for $30 million, this article would already be done, having ended midway...

The tech world is atwitter over the news Tuesday that Yahoo has reportedly paid tens of millions to acquire a company founded by a 17-year old. Yes, a 17-year old. What makes the prodigy so interesting isn't necessarily what he created (a news summary app called Summly) or what he's achieved (his first several million before graduating from high school). Nick D'Aloisio is also a well-spoken Londoner with Ferris Bueller-like charm who some observers say Yahoo wanted more for his ability...

She said her baby is "easy" — curse you, CEO businessl­ady Marissa Mayer. Another woman said raising five kids " was hard work " — curse you, too, stay-at-home-mom and first-lady runner-up Ann Romney. After seeing all the jackal attacks on famous women who talk about motherhood, I'm sure that Buckingham Palace is already putting together a PR strategy for how newly announced preggo Kate Middleton should talk about her royal baby. With all of the choices facing women today,...

Yahoo has announced its acquisition of Summly , an app that lets users easily skim through news and articles on their mobile devices — an app that's particularly notable because its founder is just 17 years old. Nick D'Aloisio, who founded the company when he was 15, launched it in December 2011, and has received financial backing from investors including Yoko Ono and Ashton Kutcher . The service sums up news articles in 400 characters, making...

Career Coach Joyce E.A. Russell took questions from readers in an online chat last week. Here are excerpts: What about the rest of us? Q.: What is your take on Marissa Mayer and Sheryl Sandberg? I must be the village idiot because I really don't know what their messages are to women who are not in positions of authority (secretaries, admin assistants, etc.). Women like that, of which I am one, will not be climbing the corporate ladder any time soon. Joyce E.A. Russell: You raise a really good point...