Goodbye, Dubai: Yahoo to Shutter Final Office in Mideast

Yahoo is essentially shuttering its operations in the Mideast, with plans to close its final 50-person office in Dubai.

I got a series of emails from impacted employees today, who are obviously unhappy. Yahoo also confirmed the move to Gulf Business in a typical we’re-so-sorry statement, noting the office would shut down by April. This came after the Silicon Valley Internet giant had said it would keep the office open after previous layoffs last year.

The sad end to its foray in the region came six years after the company bought Arabic social network Maktoob.com for close to $170 million in 2009, with great hopes of expansion there. At one point, Yahoo had 400 employees all over the area, including in Amman, Jordan, and Cairo, Egypt, as well as 65 million users.

Under the now troubled leadership of Marissa Mayer, Yahoo has pulled back internationally. It also lost its well-regarded international head Dawn Airey earlier this year.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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