Live data from Hacker News

Yahoo misses profit expectations in what could be its last-ever earnings report

washingtonpost.com

11–20 of 155 posts

Re: Yahoo misses profit expectations in what could be its last-ever earnings report

#11
post #6

Its taken them a while, all their peers except for Amazon have essential gone to the dust. If Geocities had been bought by say Google instead of Yahoo I could have easily flipped my options into my own startup. However dot bomb hit so hard instead of wealth I was left holding a huge capital gains tax bill that forced me into 10 solid years of hardcore poverty as most of my income was confiscated to pay off the debt.…

How do you not make money and still owe a lot in capital gains?

[deleted]

Re: Yahoo misses profit expectations in what could be its last-ever earnings report

#12
post #6

Its taken them a while, all their peers except for Amazon have essential gone to the dust. If Geocities had been bought by say Google instead of Yahoo I could have easily flipped my options into my own startup. However dot bomb hit so hard instead of wealth I was left holding a huge capital gains tax bill that forced me into 10 solid years of hardcore poverty as most of my income was confiscated to pay off the debt.…

How do you not make money and still owe a lot in capital gains?

Generally this occurs when you exercise an option to purchase stock, then hold the stock while it significantly depreciates in value. Fairly common scenario during the dot-com bubble.

1) Option at $1

2) Exercise at $100, spending $1 to buy. Tax on $99 short term capital gains owed, or ~$35.

3) Stock falls to $10 and sold for a $9 profit. You still owe $35 capital gains and spent $1. Net loss of $25 per share.

Re: Yahoo misses profit expectations in what could be its last-ever earnings report

#13

Has the valley ever seen a more hyped, yet disappointing hire than Mayer?

Theranos.

The valley is very sensitive towards women running companies with large valuations, that company's woes would otherwise have flown completely under the radar. The next one on the "overhyped but disappointing and in the valley list" would be Clinkle and its now 24 year old CEO. No women there but as you will see the valuations drop off a cliff pretty quickly in this list.

Re: Yahoo misses profit expectations in what could be its last-ever earnings report

#14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you not make money and still owe a lot in capital gains?

Generally this occurs when you exercise an option to purchase stock, then hold the stock while it significantly depreciates in value. Fairly common scenario during the dot-com bubble. 1) Option at $1 2) Exercise at $100, spending $1 to buy. Tax on $99 short term capital gains owed, or ~$35. 3) Stock falls to $10 and sold for a $9 profit. You still owe $35 capital gains and spent $1. Net loss of $25 per share.

Did you mean "2) Exercise at $100 [..]"?

Re: Yahoo misses profit expectations in what could be its last-ever earnings report

#15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you not make money and still owe a lot in capital gains?

Generally this occurs when you exercise an option to purchase stock, then hold the stock while it significantly depreciates in value. Fairly common scenario during the dot-com bubble. 1) Option at $1 2) Exercise at $100, spending $1 to buy. Tax on $99 short term capital gains owed, or ~$35. 3) Stock falls to $10 and sold for a $9 profit. You still owe $35 capital gains and spent $1. Net loss of $25 per share.

Wouldn't the prudent thing to do be to sell at least enough stock to pay the tax? If not allowed to sell at that point- just short stock to have the equivalent effect (minus fees)?

Something else I've never understood to be rational - If you wouldn't buy $10 in yahoo stock- why would you hold it because you have it?

My uninformed but seems logical answer would be sell the stock you got, pay the tax and buy and index fund.

Re: Yahoo misses profit expectations in what could be its last-ever earnings report

#16
post #6

Its taken them a while, all their peers except for Amazon have essential gone to the dust. If Geocities had been bought by say Google instead of Yahoo I could have easily flipped my options into my own startup. However dot bomb hit so hard instead of wealth I was left holding a huge capital gains tax bill that forced me into 10 solid years of hardcore poverty as most of my income was confiscated to pay off the debt.…

[deleted]

Re: Yahoo misses profit expectations in what could be its last-ever earnings report

#19
post #6

Its taken them a while, all their peers except for Amazon have essential gone to the dust. If Geocities had been bought by say Google instead of Yahoo I could have easily flipped my options into my own startup. However dot bomb hit so hard instead of wealth I was left holding a huge capital gains tax bill that forced me into 10 solid years of hardcore poverty as most of my income was confiscated to pay off the debt.…

Have you written more about this? I would love to read more details.

Re: Yahoo misses profit expectations in what could be its last-ever earnings report

#20

Has the valley ever seen a more hyped, yet disappointing hire than Mayer?

Theranos. The valley is very sensitive towards women running companies with large valuations, that company's woes would otherwise have flown completely under the radar. The next one on the "overhyped but disappointing and in the valley list" would be Clinkle and its now 24 year old CEO. No women there but as you will see the valuations drop off a cliff pretty quickly in this list.

Why is the primary factor behind Theranos's bubble the fact that its founder was a woman? That is a notable aspect but Elizabeth Holmes also leveraged powerful connections and a TED-friendly dream to get that hype. There are plenty of female-led startups that did not reach any notable status despite having a woman at the helm.
Post reply on HN