New York - Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer gave birth to identical twin daughters early Friday morning.
“Zack and I are excited to announce that our identical twin girls were born early this morning,” Mayer tweeted, referring to her husband, investor Zachary Bogue. “Our whole family is doing great!”
Mayer and Bogue had their first child, a boy, in 2012, a few months after she took the helm of the biggest US Web portal. The CEO’s latest additions arrived just a day after she spoke to analysts and investors on a conference call and gave press interviews to discuss a major shift in Yahoo’s business strategy.
Mayer is likely to take off about two weeks after the birth - and then another week or so in connection with the holidays - before returning to the office, said a person with knowledge of her plans, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. Also, Mayer will stay engaged with the company as needed with her CEO duties, the person said.
Mayer’s decision to return to work quickly is her choice and makes sense given her role, said Barbara Yastine, co-CEO of Lebenthal Holdings in New York.
“She has pressure on her at work, she’s facing challenges and she’s the CEO, so she’s figuring out how to handle that with the rest of her life - and that’s fabulous,” said Yastine, herself the mother of twin girls, now 11, and who went back to work soon after they were born. “When you want to do something big and different, you find a way to do it, and there’s no such thing as balance -- you’re always juggling.”
Mayer’s announcement comes as other technology chiefs welcome new children into their lives, raising awareness about challenges surrounding work and family. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he’s planning to take two months of paternity leave after the recent birth of his first child. Last year, Max Schireson, CEO of database company MongoDB, said he was stepping down to spend time with his children.
Mayer’s company offers a relatively generous package for new parents, including allowing new moms who give birth as many as 16 weeks of paid leave.
BLOOMBERG