Yahoo's Marissa Mayer Gives Birth To Twins

Yahoo (Hanover: YHO.HA - news) boss Marissa Mayer has given birth to twin girls – having already said she plans to take little time off following the new arrivals.

The 40-year-old gave birth on Thursday and announced the event on her blog and via Twitter (Xetra: A1W6XZ - news) . It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) came a day after unveiling plans to create a new company to control Yahoo's internet business.

She (Munich: SOQ.MU - news) and husband Zachary Bogue already have a three-year-old son, Macallister. Ms Mayer faced criticism in some quarters after taking just two weeks off after his birth in 2012 – shortly after she had joined Yahoo.

But she was later praised for doubling paid maternity leave to 16 weeks across the company and offering eight weeks to fathers.

Ms Mayer announced the latest arrivals saying: "Zack and I are excited to announce that our identical twin girls have arrived! They were born early this morning.

"Our whole family is doing great! Thanks to everyone for all of the support and well wishes throughout my pregnancy."

Ms Mayer had announced that she was expecting in a blog post earlier this year.

She said at the time: "Since my pregnancy has been healthy and uncomplicated and since this is a unique time in Yahoo's transformation, I plan to approach the pregnancy and delivery as I did with my son three years ago, taking limited time away and working throughout.

"Moving forward, there will be a lot to do for both my family and for Yahoo; both will require hard work and thoughtful prioritisation."

Ms Mayer announced on Wednesday that Yahoo plans to spin off its internet operations into a separate company in 2016 or 2017.

The company shelved plans to spin off its stake in Chinese online retailer Alibaba amid pressure from activist investors worried about billions of dollars in taxes.

Besides overseeing the complex spin-off, the chief executive is also drawing up plans for a cost-cutting overhaul that will see the group shed unprofitable products and possibly lay off hundreds of workers.

More details are set to be provided at the end of next month when Yahoo publishes fourth quarter earnings figures (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) .