Two years, two weeks – what’s the diff?
“Yahoo Data Breach Hits Millions,” The Wall Street Journal, September 23, 2016 A1. Yahoo, the subject of a proposed deal with Verizon announced July 25, apparently had a major breach of its network two years ago, affecting upwards of 500 million users. But in a proxy filing on September 9, Yahoo said it wasn’t aware of any breaches.
So which is it? Did Yahoo not know for two years about the breach? Did it not know two weeks ago? Or did it forget? $4.8 billion deal may turn on this point. When did Yahoo tell Verizon? Can you hear me now?
How many theories can you think of for individual director liability if this deal craters? Failure to protect the assets? Failure to inform shareholders? Lying to the market? Fraud?
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