Despite a rocky tenure as Yahoo chief executive that is likely to end in a sale to Verizon, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer today said the company has been transformed under her leadership and that she "couldn't be more proud of the achievements to date."

In a call with investors describing the $4.8 billion (£3.7 billion) acquisition of Yahoo's operating business that Verizon announced this morning, Mayer praised the Yahoo staff for "the tremendous accomplishments made over the past few years in our transformation." Without mentioning missteps like the Tumblr acquisition, Mayer said, "We invested in and built our mobile, video, native, and social businesses from nothing in 2011 to $1.6 billion in GAAP revenue in 2015. We tripled our mobile base to over 600 million monthly active users and generated over $1 billion of mobile advertising revenue last year."

Yahoo, Mayer said, has also "streamlined and modernized every aspect of our consumer products and dramatically improved our advertiser products. We've laid incredibly solid groundwork and the sale gives us the opportunity to build on that momentum."

Investors seemed receptive to Mayer's enthusiasm, with one saying, "Congratulations, Marissa" before asking a question. Another investor congratulated the Yahoo management team on the transaction.

Mayer, who will reportedly receive severance of $57 million (£43 million), seems likely to leave Yahoo once Verizon completes the acquisition. Though Mayer said she loves Yahoo and "plan[s] to stay," she noted that her immediate priorities are "seeing this transaction through to closing and also protecting the value in our equity stakes." Combined with other statements by Yahoo and Verizon officials, it appears that Mayer's role may last only through the acquisition's closing, expected to happen by Q1 2017.

Verizon Executive VP Marni Walden "said Verizon had not yet made a decision about what role if any Mayer would have after the deal closes," CNBC reported. On the call with investors, Yahoo Board Chairman Maynard Webb said only that "We expect [Mayer] to lead us through this transition."

Ex-Google executive Mayer was picked to lead Yahoo in 2012. The once iconic Internet company had been struggling for years, but Yahoo hoped that Mayer's success overseeing much of Google's product development would help her build Yahoo services that could make users excited about the company again. Ultimately, Yahoo's stake in Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba was worth far more than Yahoo's own operating business. Verizon will not be purchasing Yahoo's share of Alibaba; After Verizon takes over the core Yahoo business, what remains of Yahoo will change its name and become a publicly traded investment company.

Verizon will integrate Yahoo with AOL, the other 1990s Internet giant it recently purchased, to focus on potential growth in mobile media, advertising, and publishing. Like AOL, Yahoo could gain the advantage of delivering online services to mobile users without counting against Verizon Wireless data caps, though the Federal Communications Commission is reviewing whether this practice should be restricted under net neutrality rules.