Hacker News Reader

I think that her personal brand is a plus for Yahoo, so I doubt that she or Yahoo! minds this.

it's about giving Yahoo a new chance. nobody likes yahoo, people think it's an outdated company that screws up everything.

but marissa brought a new hope as she is a beloved ex-googler and people want this to work out, thus it's not yahoo that bought tumblr, it's marissa. she is the one who is doing exciting things, not that outdated loser that screwed flickr.

You'd hear it depending on the formality of the piece, I think. Maybe there is a gender bias, but I've definitely read those persons' first names, especially in less formal writing (and Tumblr has a relationship with Yahoo! and Marissa after all).