Marissa Mayer Is the Classic Overachiever

10 facts that make the Yahoo CEO an executive to watch

Marissa Mayer, 37, is accomplished in many areas, from data-crunching to artificial intelligence to ballet (dancing The Nutcracker in college). She’s an inventor, with many interface design and artificial intelligence patents bearing her name. She’s also a patron of the arts and stays physically fit. Want to know more about this fascinating woman who’s No. 3 on Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list of corporate power players and nominee for SUCCESS’s 2012 Achiever of the Year? Well, then, Mayer:

1. Sleeps only about four hours a night.

2. Was Google’s 20th employee.

3. Is an avid marathon runner and cross-country skier.

4. Has a seat on the boards of Wal-Mart, the San Francisco Ballet, the New York City Ballet and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

5. Gives lavish parties in her $5 million penthouse atop the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco.

6. Also owns a Craftsman home in Palo Alto, Calif.

7. Was one of 20 female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies when she joined Yahoo.

8. Will probably enact this Google philosophy at Yahoo: Launch products regularly, fix them or reinvent them later. “When you make a mistake, you just iterate your way out of it or you reinvent yourself,” she has said.

9. Paid $60,000 at an auction to have lunch with Oscar de la Renta.

10. Climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.

Her friend Dylan Casey (a former professional cyclist and former co-worker at Google) says, “She will outwork you; she will outwork anybody.”

In response to her Yahoo move, Chris Dixon, a high-profile Silicon Valley investor said: “Marissa Mayer is one of a few people who has enough gravitas to ignore public markets for a while and do what’s long-term best for Yahoo.”

From Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt: “I worked with Marissa for many years—she’s a great product person, very innovative and a real perfectionist who always wants the best for users. Yahoo has made a good choice, and I am personally very excited to see another woman become CEO of a technology company.”

Marissa Mayer is one of five nominees for SUCCESS magazine's annual Achiever of the Year. Read who was selected as 2012 Achiever of the Year on SUCCESS.com.

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