Last week's Yahoo election contrasts sharply to the one in 2015, when Mayer received the second-highest number of votes for Yahoo's board. This time last year, however, an Alibaba spinoff had still seemed promising. In early 2015, Mayer had revealed a tax-free proposal to spin off Yahoo's stake in the Chinese e-commerce giant and return that value to shareholders, but the plan was ultimately shelved in December due to looming uncertainty over the company's tax obligation. In general, shareholders tend to vote with management's recommendations, especially when things are going great. But it has been a tumultuous ride at Yahoo. With patience wearing thin, some investors were no longer content to wait for Mayer's turnaround and instead waged public campaigns calling for her resignation. In March, activist investor Starboard Value took on a proxy battle to replace the company's entire board of directors. Yahoo ended up conceding, giving the firm four seats.