He called members of the committee of directors making the selections, as well as big investors including William Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, people familiar with the matter said.

WSJ: General Growth Overseers Deny Founding Family Board Seats

The attendees have included chief legal officer David Drummond, senior vice president of engineering Jeff Huber, senior vice president of product management Jonathan Rosenberg, and YouTube chief Salar Kamangar, said people familiar with the matter.

WSJ: At Google, Page Seeks to Cut Red Tape

While she has continued to engage in early-stage deal talks with a wide range of video, social-networking, and advertising-technology companies, according to people familiar with the talks, to date, she has bought only small companies for their engineering and product-management talent.

WSJ: Yahoo Deal Shows Power Shift

While Ms. Mayer has continued to engage in early-stage deal talks with a wide range of video, social-networking and advertising-technology companies, according to people familiar with the talks, to date, she only has bought small companies for their engineering and product-management talent.

WSJ: Yahoo Deal Shows Power Shift