We Were Yahoo!: From Internet Pioneer to the Trillion Dollar Loss of Google and Facebook

Jeremy Ring

Mar 2018 · Gildan Media · Narrated by Marguerite Gavin

About this audiobook

Twenty-one years after its incorporation and sixteen years after its stock peak, Yahoo sold for 96% less than its value on January 3, 2000, when it had closed at an all-time high of $118.75 per share, resulting in a market capitalization of $120 billion. Wall Street valued Yahoo!, at that time in business less than six years, higher than it did Disney, News Corporation, and Comcast combined. At the end of 2016, the top seven businesses on the list of the highest-valued companies in the world by market capitalization include Apple at #1, Alphabet (Google's Parent Company) at #2, Amazon.com at #5, and Facebook at #7. Those companies combined are valued in excess of $2 trillion more than the price Verizon paid to acquire Yahoo! Yahoo!'s story is one of missed strategies, failed opportunities, and poor execution. Early decisions to de-emphasize search features, undervalue Google, and overplay Yahoo's hand in the Facebook negotiations haunted the rest of the company's existence. In addition, factors outside of Yahoo's control-most notably how irrational expectations of Wall Street created an environment where short-term decisions were made at the expense of the long-term good.

About the author

Jeremy Ring was an early internet pioneer, as he opened the East Coast office for Yahoo! out of his apartment in early 1996. In 2006, Ring was elected to the Florida state senate. Ring has had thousands of mentions in newspapers across Florida, and he has appeared as a guest on several national cable news programs.

Marguerite Gavin is a seasoned theater veteran, a five-time nominee for the prestigious Audie Award, and the winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones and Publishers Weekly awards. Marguerite has been an actor, director, and audiobook narrator for her entire professional career, and has over four hundred titles to her credit.