If you believe that price should be determined by supply and demand based on perceived value, like it mostly is in these cases, then there's no exploitation.
If you believe that price should be attributed based on Labor expended, then the Yahoo! workers are already extremely disproportionately paid relative to the average worker, so it makes no sense for them to feel exploited.
How exactly are the Yahoo! workers exploited?
I think that's between the employee and their own view of the world. If you worked at Yahoo for six years doing something, anything, and then Yahoo buys a six year old company run by a 26 year old for a billion dollars — what were you doing the past six years? Couldn't it have been you? Why not?
Every computer person employed by a company isn't generating a million dollars a year in value, but most could if they were pointed in the right direction. Even those who are generating 10x to 1000x the value of their salary aren't compensated proportionally (hence, why startups exist).
If you work on a failed project as an employee, then at least you got paid a salary during that time. As a startup founder you walk away with nothing.
That's kinda the problem these days. Failed startups have social connections making founders millionaires even when their venture was worthless. Some startups (not in the tumblr case) are essentially projects where you show the world Hey I Can Do Stuff then you get a few million dollars as a hiring bonus.
They do? Where does all that money come from and why would its owners give it away like that?
Some startups (not in the tumblr case) are essentially projects where you show the world Hey I Can Do Stuff then you get a few million dollars as a hiring bonus.
Yes. And for each, there are a bunch from which the founders walk away with very little.
Maybe instead of assuming the Yahoo! workers are all idiots who are exploited because they're unable to see that they should all be working at startups, you should try to start from the principle that they're not idiots and understand why they don't.
> but most could if they were pointed in the right direction
Also, I could make a killing investing in this here penny stock...