Re/code Daily - Marissa Mayer's Yahoo Is Circling the Drain, Looking to Sell

Read Now

•	Yesterday's earnings report for Yahoo didn't really matter, because the company finally announced that it's for sale. Though Mayer and the Yahoo board say that "strategic alternatives" could mean something other than a sale, it's pretty clear that a buyout from Verizon, AT&T or a private equity player is on the horizon. The latest sign of the company strange corporate culture? Marissa Mayer's $1 million rah-rah red book that was distributed to employees. We have photos [Kara Swisher \| Re/code]
•	Microsoft, which has been on something of an acquisition tear over the last year, has dropped $250 million on the artificially intelligent keyboard software company SwiftKey. This deal is really about the A.I. Not the keyboard. [Ina Fried \| Re/code]
•	The news that Amazon is going to open up hundreds of brick-and-mortar book stores is perfect fodder for headlines (and also something that Re/code reported on in 2014). But look past the irony: It's an increasingly popular bet on giving customers more places to pick up stuff they buy from Amazon, and the resurgence of print books as semi-luxury goods. [Greg Bensinger \| The Wall Street Journal]
•	Given all the c-suite turmoil at Twitter and Yahoo, it's worth looking back at how dot com giants like Amazon, Priceline and eBay overcame their own early struggles. Particularly notable: How Jeff Bezos kept shareholders at arm's length even though he didn't have Zuckerberg-like control of Amazon stock. [Pradnya Joshi \| The New York Times]
•	Here's our latest addition for next month's Code/Media conference: Spike Jonze, creative director at Vice Media and maker of movies like "Her" and "Being John Malkovich." Other speakers include Vice boss Shane Smith, ESPN President John Skipper and Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton. It's at the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel, Calif. on February 17-18. Click here to register. [Peter Kafka \| Re/code]