With Verizon’s deal to acquire Yahoo for $4.8 billion–in cash–the future of Katie Couric‘s role as Yahoo’s global news anchor is once again subject to debate.
Yahoo’s chief executive, Marissa Mayer, who hired Couric in 2013, said of the deal “Verizon opens the door to extensive distribution opportunities … For me personally, I’m planning to stay. I love Yahoo, and I believe in all of you. It’s important to me to see Yahoo into its next chapter.”
Does Couric plan to stay? Variety reports not everyone at Yahoo is as bullish on Couric–and her reported $10 million a year salary–as Mayer. “Couric has been busy as the election cycle goes into overdrive, having generated more than 18 million views for coverage of the Republican National Convention last week. Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, Marsha Blackburn, Bob Dole, and more were among the newsmakers she interviewed. But with Couric’s contract expiration on the horizon, her expensive salary may emerge as the first litmus test as to what Verizon’s content strategy will be.”