Maybe it's not just about talent, you could certainly hire amazing talent for a lot less than $30 million.
I imagine this kid will disappear into Yahoo and emerge again in 3 years time more mature and having been groomed for a leadership role by Mayer etc.
He will be the "lead developer" for some new product they have spent $serious_R&D_budget on and will make another promotional video where he talks in a charming British accent and drinks cups of tea with Stephen Fry.
In other words "The wonderkid who turned the crusty old dotcom around".
Technology is a celebrity culture and Mayer knows this. Liken to manufactured "boy bands".
I'm an old fart (29) and don't have a British accent, but I'll do the three-year CEO-protege thing for a mere $10 million and kick it's ass (as long as you listen to me; if not, then you're wasting money).
Bidding war's on! (If you say $9.99 million, then you are a fucking asshole.)
If you had the connections that this guy (and Mayer, and Sandberg, and Zuckerberg, and...) has, you wouldn't need to auction yourself. That's how the system prefers to work.
The listening is obviously a part of the package. Before I can say, "You're doing it wrong" in good conscience, I have to make sure that you are doing wrong.
I know it must seem like I get off on pointing out Wrongness, but there's this thankless and time-consuming process of finding the Wrongness. It's exhausting work. Y'all just see the fun part.
I imagine this kid will disappear into Yahoo and emerge again in 3 years time more mature and having been groomed for a leadership role by Mayer etc.
He will be the "lead developer" for some new product they have spent $serious_R&D_budget on and will make another promotional video where he talks in a charming British accent and drinks cups of tea with Stephen Fry.
In other words "The wonderkid who turned the crusty old dotcom around".
Technology is a celebrity culture and Mayer knows this. Liken to manufactured "boy bands".