When Marissa Meyer became Yahoo’s CEO in July 2012, employees and shareholders saw the glamorous ex-Googler, former vice president of product search and teacher of programming, as their savior. She made some big bets on everything from blogging to digital magazines, buying Tumblr, a blogging platform, and BrightRoll, a video advertising platform. She even hired Katie Couric, a famous TV anchor, to head its digital news efforts.

She also caused numerous stirs, banning people from working from home, and when times got tough, conducting firings by stealth in what became known as “Lay-off Wednesdays.” Fast forward to 2016, and now the company is up for sale, having lost a third of its workforce last year, as employees lost faith and voted with their feet. Critics contend that Meyer is an egocentric micromanager who dithers over crucial decisions. If this is true, why was she considered a superstar CEO hire?

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