Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer fires back at departing executives

By: ALEXEI ORESKOVIC
Yahoo fired back at the recent wave of departing executives, saying that the leadership changes were the result of " careful planning" by Yahoo itself in order to bring in fresh blood.

"Recently, there has been external interest and speculation in a few shifts amidst our management team. The design and changes in Yahoo's leadership team are the result of careful planning to achieve the necessary skills, passion, and the ability to execute growth in our business. Our leadership team today is unequivocally the strongest during my tenure."

The comments, made by CEO Marissa Mayer during the Q3 conference call and echoed by Yahoo's corporate Twitter account, were a rare personal attack against departing colleagues, even if Yahoo did not call anyone out by name.

Yahoo has experienced a lot of change in its senior management ranks in recent months.

Jackie Reses, who was one of CEO Marissa Mayer's key lieutenants and chief development officer, recently left to join Square. And marketing boss Kathy Savitt, another handpicked Mayer hire, left last month. Several others have left recently too.

While Mayer didn't name any names, she's basically saying that the departing executives were lacking in skills, ability, and passion. That may be true, but it's strange for Mayer to be saying it, since she handpicked many of those people to be part of her team.