What is Yahoo’s New Name? New Chairman, Internet Company To Change After Verizon Deal Completed

Amid a major corporate culture and personnel shakeup, largely in order to keep a multi-billion dollar sale in place, Yahoo announced Monday its future name, its new chairman of the board, Eric Brandt, and a stripped down version of its governing board, Reuters reported.

Yahoo said its new name will be Altaba Inc and that current chief executive officer Marissa Mayer, who was put at the helm in July 2012, will also be stepping down. Brandt officially took over as chairman of the board Monday.

Among other changes, the board will also be cut down by five members after Yahoo’s expected $4.8 billion sale to telecom giant Verizon Communications Inc. is completed and the company’s co-founder, David Filo, will also step down, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Journal also reported, citing a “person familiar with the matter,” that the new name is a combination of “alternate” and “Alibaba,” the Chinese internet company. The other reason behind the name comes from Yahoo, or Altaba’s, remaining stake in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan.

The directors who are left will manage Altaba’s 15 percent stake in Alibaba and its 35.5 percent stake in Yahoo Japan. Yahoo’s significant holdings in both companies are viewed as the main reason behind Verizon’s interest, according to The Journal.

Over the last year, Alibaba (BABA) has hit a 52-week low of $59.25 and a high of $109.87. During after hours trading and prior to the opening of markets in the U.S. Tuesday morning, the stock’s shot up to $95.60, a jump of 0.88 per share or 0.93 percent.

The heavy corporate shakeups were reportedly viewed as necessary to keep the sale to Verizon intact. Yahoo experienced two major hacks to their users' accounts, one that saw roughly 500 million compromised accounts and another more than a billion.

Verizon executives have said they are still investigating the hacks, according to Yahoo.

Brandt, who joined Yahoo in March of last year after serving as chief financial officer for Broadcom Corporation, is also a member of Lam Research and Dentsply International’s boards of directors.