Yahoo's $60 Million Ex-COO, Henrique De Castro, Speaks! 'I Was Fired, And That's Ok'

Former Yahoo COO Henrique de Castro has spoken out for the first time about being fired last year.

"I was fired and that's OK," de Castro told LinkedIn's Isabelle Roughol. "Being fired is part of your career options."

De Castro was fired by Marissa Mayer in fall 2013 for failing to meet Mayer's ad sales goals.

De Castro was Mayer's first major hire as CEO. He was tasked with repairing Yahoo's relationship with ad agencies.

"To be the COO of a non-growing business is a difficult position," de Castro said. "With hindsight, I don't think a COO was needed."

As COO, De Castro was one of the highest-paid executives in tech. He made over $50 million during his roughly 15 months at Yahoo.

On top of that, De Castro got a $58 million severance package.

Despite the falling out between Mayer and De Castro, the former COO is bullish about Yahoo's future.

"Search, mobile, video and media are not today what they'll be in the future," he said. "Marissa and the rest of the managing team have done a great job positioning the company to capture these future trends."

The only question De Castro wonders about: "will they catch the trends on time?"