Last month, Yahoo announced that it had completed its initial sale of Alibaba shares, from which it received around $7.6 billion -- $6.3 billion in cash and $800 million in preferred Alibaba shares. In exchange, Yahoo returned to Alibaba half of its 40 percent stake in the company, along with a $550 million payment for a technology and intellectual-property license agreement. Net cash and proceeds after taxes and fees from that first stage of the repurchase process totalled around $4.3 billion.

Yahoo retains a stake in Alibaba worth around $8.1 billion, so together with its preferred stock, Yahoo's remaining stake in Alibaba is around $8.9 billion. The second phase of the repurchase process allows Yahoo to monetize around half of its remaining stake whenever Alibaba launches its IPO, and the rest of its stake at its discretion afterwards.

Since coming on board, Mayer has revamped Yahoo's C-level suite, appointing new people to the chief operating officer, CFO, general counsel and chief marketing officer positions.

When appointed, Mayer was Yahoo's third CEO in less than a year.

Carol Bartz was fired in September 2011, and her replacement, Scott Thompson, only served between January and May of this year.