Which is their right. Investors own the business. If you don't want to lose control, don't sell voting rights for money.
It's just weird, however, given they hired Marissa Mayer. She is, or at least is perceived to be, a product specialist; nothing about her, professionally or temperamentally, seems like she'd be good at being a ruthless cost cutter who operates run-outs.
I actually take consolation in the fact that CEOs are under tremendous pressure to deliver results to shareholders. I would be much angrier if the board were enjoying the company jet and giving Mayer the benefit of every doubt while Yahoo! burned.
That type of look-the-other-way, cozy with the CEO type of board used to be more normal -- before activists, hedge funds, LBOs, etc. -- and there was a lot more disgusting behavior (I'm thinking specifically about Ross Johnson in Barbarians at the Gate -- flying his board to golf outings while he robbed RJR Nabisco blind).
"Honest" or it's derivatives is the last word I would use in a sentence which includes Wall Street. Haven't Wall Street proven time and again that they are only interested in short term gains rather than a long term vision? I would be skeptical about any advice/opinion from a Wall Street firm.