Yahoo bought the Alibaba stake in a deal engineered a decade ago by Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang. Alibaba operates online sites that account for some 80 percent of Chinese e-commerce and emerged as one of the Internet's hottest companies right around the time Mayer arrived at Yahoo in July 2012 a bit of fortunate timing that has given her more time than she might otherwise have had to figure out how to revive Yahoo's revenue growth. Before Alibaba completed the biggest IPO in history four months ago, Yahoo shares were the easiest way for investors to buy a piece of the Chinese company. Alibaba's stock has climbed by about 40 percent from its initial public offering price of $68, a surge that has lifted Yahoo, too. Shares of the Sunnyvale, California, company have more than tripled in the last two-and-a-half years. Mayer has publicly applauded Yang for the Alibaba coup, but also has taken credit for some of the company's progress.