Professor says Marissa Mayer’s pregnancy saved her job

An NYU marketing professor took on Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, calling her an overpaid tech executive.

Scott Galloway, a professor at NYU Stern School of Business, went after Mayer on a Bloomberg radio show hosted by Tom Keene.

Galloway said Mayer’s recent announcement that she is pregnant with twins is the only way she is able to hold on to her job.

“If she hadn’t announced she was pregnant with twins, she’d be out of a job within six months,” Galloway said.

Galloway believes that the Yahoo! board would face a harsh public outcry if they acted — as they should, according to the professor — to fire her while she was expecting.

“I don’t think any board in America right now in technology that’s as visible as Yahoo! wants to be seen as not leaning in,” said the professor, making reference to “Lean In, ” the book by Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.

“She got a reprieve from death row because she’s pregnant with twins,” Galloway said.

The professor suggested the board of directors’ actions could make for a lesson in how not to handle corporate governance.

“We should put a bullet in the head of this story called Yahoo!,” he said. “It is time to euthanize this thing.”

On Tuesday, Yahoo! announced that it had withdrawn its request for an IRS ruling on its plan for a tax-free spinoff of its stake in e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding. Yahoo! shares slipped after the announcement, and are down about 25 percent in the last year.

“Marissa Mayer is the most overpaid CEO in history,” concluded Galloway.

Galloway did not return emails requesting a comment.