Yahoo appoints Hollywood actress Jessica Alba to board

Yahoo on Monday (June 13) named six people from the tech, media and financial industries to its board, including Hollywood actress Jessica Alba, as the company aims to diversify its offerings to compete with bigger players.

Yahoo, which sprung up during the age of desktop PCs hooked up to dial-up internet connections, has been looking to grow its offerings to compete with companies such as Alphabet Inc's Google and Meta Platforms Inc's Facebook.

Last year, Apollo Global Management Inc closed a $5 billion (S$6.97 billion) acquisition of Verizon Media and renamed it Yahoo after Verizon's iconic digital brand.

Since then, the website has focused on building out Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Sports, while also focusing on advertising and ecommerce platforms. Yahoo named dating app Tinder's boss Jim Lanzone as its chief executive officer after the deal closed. 

Alba, who is also the co-founder of consumer wellness products firm Honest Company, will be joined by Aryeh Bourkoff, the chief executive officer of LionTree, a bank that has advised some of the biggest media mergers, as well as Fouad ElNaggar, the CEO of tech firms Array and Sapho.

Yahoo also appointed to its board Michael Kives, founder of investment firm K5 Global, Katie Stanton, who has served in executive operating roles at Twitter and Google, as well as Cynthia Marshall, the CEO of American basketball team Dallas Mavericks.

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