Only kidding, Jerry, we love ya really. Well if you haven’t worked it out already, Jerry Yang, CEO of Yahoo, is stepping down. I know some readers will be saying ‘about time, too’ but let’s be fair, the man built Yahoo into one the pioneering internet giants so I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from him.
Yang announced in a memorandum that he will continue in his role until the board names his successor. But he’s not leaving Yahoo - on stepping down, Yang will then return to his previous job as “chief Yahoo,” a corporate strategy role, which means he’ll still be on the board.
Jerry Yang had only been in the CEO seat for a year and a half but during his tenure it’s been a roller coaster ride with shares rising rapidly when Microsoft announced an interest in buying the company. Then there’s the share price wipeout that followed the ‘deal, no deal, deal…no deal’ saga (currently Yahoo’s share are languishing at $11.82, down from around $33 at the height of the acquisition frenzy). Yahoo’s share price actually shot up by 4% after trading on Monday - does that tell you how the investors feel about this decision?
Roy J. Bostock, Yahoo’s chairman, wrote in a statement. “We are deeply grateful to Jerry for his many contributions as C.E.O. over the past 18 months, and we are pleased that he plans to stay actively involved at Yahoo as a key executive and member of the board.”
There is a belief that Jerry’s departure could reignite Microsoft’s interest in Yahoo as Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, has complained that Mr. Yang wasn’t interested in the deal. So the Yahoo acquisition death knell might be soon be beating out the wedding march!had no real interest in the deal. Microsoft declined to comment - sure they’re not interested, their much hyped Live Search is sucking both Yahoo’s and Google’s dust! Why would they want to buy the no.2 search company?
But Microsoft isn’t the only interested party; Yahoo and AOL have been discussing a merger for a number of months now. From a company perspective, a deal with AOL would seem more in keeping with the traditions and direction of Yahoo but I’m sure the board are probably more concerned with expanding the waistline of their wallets.
Yahoo said it would look for possible replacements inside and outside the company. Potential candidates include Susan L. Decker, Yahoo’s president; Daniel L. Rosensweig, the former chief operating officer of Yahoo who is now a principal at the investment firm Quadrangle Group; and Jonathan F. Miller, the former head of AOL.
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