Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer poised to quit in tech shake-up

Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer is to quit the board of the troubled tech firm as part of a shake-up including a name change, if its $4.8 billion (£4 billion) takeover goes ahead.

The former tech darling has a deal in place to sell its core internet business, including email, to US giant Verizon.

It is understood Mayer (pictured), who has led Yahoo since 2012, will remain with the company.

However, she is among six directors who plan to leave the board of the investment company that will be left after the closing of the sale, according to a new Securities and Exchange Commission Filing. It was also revealed the company will be renamed Altaba. Telecoms firm Verizon is expected to retain the Yahoo brand.

Altaba will become a holding company for Yahoo’s remaining investments in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Yahoo Japan.

However, the deal with Verizon was thrown into doubt by Yahoo’s recent revelation that more than one billion user accounts may have been affected in a hacking attack dating back to 2013. That is understood to be separate from a cyber-attack which hit the firm in 2014.