It's possible it's a big top line number (some press quotes even higher than $30mm), but in a way which actually makes sense.
Long earn-outs could be one factor. Giving engineers $1mm with 1/2/3/4 4-year earn-outs would even be on the low side. Doing the same with a founder would obviously be worth less (especially at Yahoo!, given how founders historically leave after acquisition)
SRI is presumably getting a big chunk for a new license. Maybe even a domain-exclusive license. That alone could be $0-100mm.
If it's equity, it is a lot better for Yahoo!
It's possible the founders and key employees have a weird incentive structure -- if they continue with the product and get 50mm users, they'd get a payout of an extra $10mm vs. otherwise, for instance. That kind of thing could add to the reported deal figure without adding much risk to Yahoo!. (I'm sure I could get a "if you turn Yahoo! into a $60b/yr business in the next 3 years, you can have an extra $100mm" on any deal.)
I'm not Marissa Mayer's biggest fan, but I don't think she's in the same vein as the previous leadership at Yahoo!, so presuming that they're throwing money away irrationally isn't the first thing I'd do.
Long earn-outs could be one factor. Giving engineers $1mm with 1/2/3/4 4-year earn-outs would even be on the low side. Doing the same with a founder would obviously be worth less (especially at Yahoo!, given how founders historically leave after acquisition)
SRI is presumably getting a big chunk for a new license. Maybe even a domain-exclusive license. That alone could be $0-100mm.
If it's equity, it is a lot better for Yahoo!
It's possible the founders and key employees have a weird incentive structure -- if they continue with the product and get 50mm users, they'd get a payout of an extra $10mm vs. otherwise, for instance. That kind of thing could add to the reported deal figure without adding much risk to Yahoo!. (I'm sure I could get a "if you turn Yahoo! into a $60b/yr business in the next 3 years, you can have an extra $100mm" on any deal.)
I'm not Marissa Mayer's biggest fan, but I don't think she's in the same vein as the previous leadership at Yahoo!, so presuming that they're throwing money away irrationally isn't the first thing I'd do.