All of this would be fine if you are Google or Facebook and are minting cash. But it seemed wrong for Yahoo to again sponsor the World Economic Forum this year. You may suspect that many at the forum were looking at the Yahoo executives and thinking that this would be their last year there. What a waste of money, and what bad public relations.

Instead, what Yahoo is left with is a new strategy, one that is focused on “Mavens” (Silicon Valley shorthand for mobile, video, native and social platforms), while struggling with cost-cutting and an employee morale situation that Ms. Mayer describes as “complicated.” The sale announcement is only going to make the situation worse as more employees head for the doors. All that free food buys loyalty only as long as you are a winner, and Yahoo is now in triage mode.

All this would make it hard for any board to maintain control. The default, of course, is to pull the ripcord. I had thought that the Yahoo board was taking a stronger stance by trying to buy a year with the Yahoo spinoff, but the board has buckled under pressure, with a potential proxy contest from the hedge fund Starboard Value looming.

And indeed, watching videos of Ms. Mayer and the chairman, Maynard Webb, talking about the company’s future gives you more a sense that they are more at odds than working together. (Watch the video and make your own conclusions.)

Yahoo’s bankers will now call the usual subjects and run an auction. This typically takes about one to two months, although given the fact that everyone knows the situation here, it may go more quickly.