Report: Yahoo!'s Board Unfazed by New CEO's Pregnancy

Yahoo!’s (NASDAQ:YHOO) board of directors didn’t give a second thought to or even consider the fact that newly-selected CEO Marissa Mayer is currently pregnant, according to a published report.

Mayer surprised the tech world twice on Monday, first by disclosing plans to leave Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) to spearhead Yahoo!’s latest turnaround effort and then by announcing on Twitter she is expecting a baby boy.

"It was not part of the consideration,” a person close to the situation told tech blog All Things D. “Like every other professional woman, she has to weigh all the factors in doing her job and having a family."

The baby will be Mayer’s first and she is due in the fall, All Things D reported.

Mayer told Fortune she plans to work through her three-week maternity leave.

By taking over the C-Suite at struggling Yahoo!, Mayer, 37, instantly becomes one of Silicon Valley’s most powerful women, joining Facebook’s (NASDAQ:FB) Sheryl Sandberg and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) CEO Meg Whitman.

Mayer was hired by Google back in 1999 as employee N0.20, and has been credited with designing the company’s iconic search homepage. Fortune has named her as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in each of the past four years.

To be sure, male CEOs have been hired in the past before having children and Mayer’s impressive qualifications shouldn’t be overshadowed by her pregnancy. Still, Mayer will be one of the first women hired as a tech CEO months before being due to have a child, according to All Things D.

Shares of Yahoo! rallied on the hiring announcement late Monday and recently traded at $15.72 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.