Yahoo! recently named longtime Google executive,
Marissa Mayer, as its new CEO. Since the announcement,
Twitter has been aflutter with comments about how this could
happen. One Tweeter remarked: "Whoa. Either Marissa
Mayer didn't have a non-compete or no one at Google thinks
Yahoo qualifies as competition." Another tweet
speculates that she must have at least signed a confidentiality
agreement.
These Tweeters are not alone in their curiosity. Over the
past twenty-four hours I have been asked many questions by friends
and family alike about this move. Here's my take.
Didn't she have a non-compete?
Probably not. Of course, I can't say for sure as I am not
privy to her employment arrangements with Google, but my strong
guess is that she does not have a non-compete that facially forbids
her from accepting employment with a competitor. Such an
agreement would be unenforceable in California where section 16600 of the Business and Professions
Code prohibits