Yahoo’s fate is sealed, with ardent suitor Verizon receiving the final rose over the weekend and details on the nuptials disclosed Monday morning. The outcome, not so much of a surprise. The likely dowry of less than $5 billion, however, is significantly less than the $8 billion bandied about when the Yahoo board got serious about marrying off the digital advertising company four months ago. Then again, Yahoo once had a market cap of $125 billion. Last Friday, it closed at less than $38 billion.
Unless someone gets cold feet, the deal will position Verizon as the third largest digital advertising company in the U.S., with about 4.4% share compared with the roughly 35% controlled by both Google and Facebook.
The scuttlebutt suggests that Tim Armstrong, the chief executive of AOL (you know, that other media company bought by Verizon last year for $4.4 billion) will be in charge of melding Yahoo’s media properties and its Internet search engine with Verizon’s other digital properties. Given the cultural differences at the two companies, that will be no honeymoon. Despite rumors otherwise, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer will be invited to the wedding reception but she probably won’t celebrate the first anniversary.
The two companies are hosting a call about their engagement this morning.
Grab your coffee and headphones, and listen to our new weekly podcast about business ambition and inspiration, Fortune Unfiltered, hosted by digital editor Aaron Task. Up first in the interview hot seat are Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, GE innovation chief Beth Comstock, and social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk. (Subscribe to weekly updates here.) Enjoy your week!
Heather Clancy is a contributing editor at Fortune. Reach her via email.
THE DOWNLOAD
Comparing Trump and Clinton on tech strategy. With VP picks lined up, it’s a good time to assess the presidential candidates’ policy positions. On tech and innovation in particular, there are stark differences between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, with one candidate offering something close to a wish list for Silicon Valley, and the other supporting trade, labor, and security policies that few there would endorse. Here's what you need to know.
BITS & BYTES
Regulatory filing reveals LinkedIn bidding war. If you thought the $26.2 billion price Microsoft is paying for the professional networking company was high, you aren't mistaken. Competitive counteroffers from Salesforce raised the final value by about $5 billion, and it could have gone even higher if Marc Benioff had his way. (Wall Street Journal)
Ericsson CEO loses his job. The mobile network and telecommunications company is cutting thousands of jobs to streamline costs, as carriers rein in spending ahead of the transition to next-generation 5G wireless technologies. Career employee Hans Vestberg is taking the fall for his company's ongoing financial troubles, and for corruption investigations in Asia and Europe. (Fortune, Bloomberg)
About that Nintendo stock rally. The game console company is expecting only a "limited" upside impact on revenue from the Pokémon Go smartphone game. Its shares fell around 18% Monday in sympathy, although they're still up at least 60% from early July. (Reuters)
Attention retailers, mobile shoppers officially rule. Smartphones accounted for about 45.1% of all e-commerce site visits during the first quarter, compared with 45% mapped to shoppers using computers. Technically, those numbers apply just to sites using Demandware (the e-commerce software company bought by Salesforce early this month), but transactions related to mobile devices doubled between 2013 and 2015 and the broader crossover is near. (Bloomberg)
Cybersecurity startup StackPath emerges from stealth with $180 million. The Dallas-based venture is fronted by Lance Crosby, the founder and SoftLayer Technologies—a company bought by IBM for $2 billion in 2013 to serve as the foundation of its cloud services division. (Fortune)
WATCH FOR IT
Apple anticipates second consecutive sales decline. Worries over iPhone shipments—especially over whether the cheap iPhone SE is cannibalizing more expensive models—is preying heavily on investors' minds ahead of its latest financial results due out Tuesday. Analysts are expecting a 15% decline in quarterly revenue to $42.1 billion. On the bright side, Apple could benefit substantially in coming months from the runaway success of Pokémon Go. (Fortune, Wall Street Journal, Fortune)
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
7 Skills You Need to Manage Smart Machines, by Anne Fisher
Pokémon Go Shatters Apple App Store Record, by Jonathan Vanian
Here's What Happens When Lawyers Discuss HBO's 'Silicon Valley',
by Kia Kokalitcheva
AT&T Tries to Convince Wall Street Its Wireless Business Is Healthy,
by Aaron Pressman
ONE MORE THING
Silicon Valley is a mean place! Another new book about the center of the tech universe. In Chaos Monkeys, curmudgeon Antonio García-Martinez opines about life at former employers Twitter (which paid $10 million for his startup) and Facebook, where he was part of the advertising team. (Recode)
This edition of Data Sheet was curated by Heather Clancy.
