Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!, went to her first shareholder meeting expecting to talk about the company's strategy - but instead endured a slew of comments related to her gender and appearance.
The 38-year-old former Google executive was told by one investor at the meeting in Sunnyvale, California: "I have 2000 Yahoo! shares, I'm Greek, I'm a dirty old man and you look attractive."
Mayer, dressed in a modest shift dress and heels, pointedly ignored the remark as she went on to address his other concerns.
Other shareholders paid tribute to Mayer for smashing the "glass ceiling" by becoming the leader of a major technology company at a young age, at the same time as she was pregnant with her first child.
They also lobbied her to use her position to stand up for the rights of other women.
One investor, a single mother who claimed she has been unfairly dismissed by Walmart, on whose board Mayer also sits, issued an emotional plea to the technology executive to help her get her job back.
"When you had your baby three months after joining Yahoo!, I was proud that women had finally shattered that unbreakable glass ceiling," she said.
"Ms Mayer, many women throughout Silicon Valley and the world look up to you [and] the company has benefited as a result - now we are asking that you also be a leader at Walmart."
Mayer said she would not deal with such requests in the Yahoo! meeting and that she would refer them to Walmart's lawyers.
Steering the discussion back to Yahoo!, she underscored the improvement in staff morale over the past year, during which time its share price has risen by more than two-thirds.
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