Yahoo!'s Spinoff of Alibaba Stake Puts Marissa Mayer in Hot Seat

With Yahoo! spinning off its prized stake in China's Alibaba Group, chief executive Marissa Mayer is likely to be subject to even more scrutiny as she seeks to revitalize the company. The breakup announced Tuesday will transfer ownership of 384 million shares of Alibaba stock, currently worth $39 billion, into a new entity called SpinCo. Those holdings were a main driver in Yahoo's stock more than tripling since Mayer became CEO two-and-half years ago. Yahoo!'s link to Alibaba has helped to distract from the fact that its own digital services have been struggling to generate more revenue during the past six years. The news also comes as Yahoo! reported fourth-quarter earnings that tumbled 52%.