She may be the tech world’s ‘least likeable CEO’, but the Marissa Mayer net worth proves that you don’t have to be loved to be successful.
Marissa Mayer wanted to be a ballerina, ice-skater, piano player and swimmer as a child. She was also interested in curling, languages, debating and cheerleading during her teenage years.
She appeared destined to become a brain surgeon, but eventually fell into computer programming. Although, there are plenty of people that wish that she had pursued one of her many other hobbies.
Due to her disastrous spell at struggling tech company Yahoo!, those within the industry voted Mayer as the least likeable CEO in 2017. According to insiders, Yahoo! employees were dissatisfied with many of her decisions. She has been criticised for poor timekeeping, a lack of praise and her decision to recall remote employees to the office.
However, with years of experience (having worked at some of the world’s biggest companies) and a vast fortune to boot, Mayer is quite clearly good at what she does.
How did the Yahoo! CEO reach the top?
Mayer discovered technology at the age of six. Her friend’s brother had reprogrammed a talking calculator to say his name. Despite her age, the feat inspired Mayer to attempt similar projects herself. By the age of 10, she was creating complex computer software.
Yet, two years later her desires took a turn and she decided to take up medicine. She pursued that dream all the way to Stanford University. However, a basic computer course would throw her back into the world of tech.
Soon after, Mayer switched from her pre-med course to symbolic systems, which combined computer science with psychology and philosophy. Tapping into her many interests and hobbies, Mayer thrived on the course.
After graduating with a master’s degree, Mayer joined Sergey Brin and Larry Page at search start-up Google, despite receiving offers from some major companies. Joining right at the very beginning, Mayer watched Google grow into the world’s second biggest company.
By the time Mayer departed Google, she had risen up the ranks to become head of the Local, Maps and Location Services division. However, a big offer from Yahoo! would pull her away from the company after more than a decade.
Mayer was believed to be Yahoo!’s saviour upon joining as CEO in 2012. The company has been on a downward spiral ever since the dot-com crash back in the early 2000s, but hoped to reach the heights achieved by Google and Facebook.
However, she ultimately failed to stop traffic and revenue from falling.
What is the Marissa Mayer net worth?
Despite her failures, Mayer earned a vast fortune during her time at Yahoo!, pocketing approximately $900,000-a-week. This is due to her decision to take much of her pay in stock. While revenue is down, Yahoo!’s stock price has risen, which has greatly increased the Marissa Mayer net worth.
In total, the tech veteran reportedly pocketed more than $250 million during her five year tenure at the Yahoo! helm. As a result, Mayer is now worth $540 million.
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