Yahoo Salvages Verizon Deal With $350 Million Discount

Yahoo is taking a $350 million hit on its previously announced $4.8 billion sale to Verizon in a concession for security lapses that exposed personal information stored in more than 1 billion Yahoo user accounts.

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The revised agreement, announced Tuesday, eases investor worries that Verizon Communications Inc. would demand a discount of at least $1 billion or cancel the deal entirely.

The hacking bombshells, disclosed after the two companies agreed on a sale, represent the two biggest security breaches in internet history.

The breaches raised concerns that people might decrease their use of Yahoo email and other digital services that Verizon is buying. A smaller audience makes Yahoo’s services less valuable because it reduces the opportunities to show ads - the main reason that Verizon struck the deal seven months ago. 

Yahoo has maintained that its users have remained loyal, despite any mistrust that might have been caused by its lax security and the lengthy delay in discovering and disclosing the hacks. The separate attacks occurred in 2013 and 2014; Yahoo disclosed them this past September and December.

The lower price, now pegged at $4.48 billion, will cost Yahoo shareholders roughly 37 cents per share. But they may also be responsible for substantial legal costs.