One of the pioneering leaders in digital media, Yahoo!, today announced the resignation of co-founder Jerry Yang. Effective today, he leaves his seat in the Board as well as all executive positions in the company. At the same time, he resigns from the Boards of Yahoo Japan and the Alibaba Group Holding.
Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang Resigns
In his resignation letter to Yahoo! Board Chairman Roy Bostock, Yang said:
“My time at Yahoo!, from its founding to the present, has encompassed some of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life. However, the time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo! As I leave the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago, I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future.”
Yang co-founded the company in 1995 along with David Filo, serving as board members since march 1995 and assuming the chief executive post between June 2007 and January 2009. Filo still seats at the board. It will be recalled that his tenure as CEO saw a 64% decline in Yahoo’s net income as online advertising was softening due to the recession, leading to 1,000 job cuts in February 2008 followed by another 1,430 towards the end of that year. He gave his CEO post to Carol Bartz who was let go last September as the company continued to bleed financially.
His successor Thompson was all praises to Yang, and so do board chairman Roy Bostock, saying “Jerry Yang is a visionary and a pioneer, who has contributed enormously to Yahoo! during his many years of service. It has been a pleasure to work with Jerry. His unique strategic insights have been invaluable. He has always remained focused on the best interests of Yahoo!’s stakeholders, including shareholders, employees and more than 700 million users. And while I and the entire Board respect his decision, we will miss his remarkable perspective, vision and wise counsel. On behalf of the Board, we thank Jerry and wish him all the very best in his future endeavors.”
In conclusion, Bostock added, “We appreciate Jerry’s comments and share his enthusiasm for the company’s prospects. With Scott Thompson leading an outstanding team of Yahoos to deliver innovative products and an engaging customer experience, Yahoo!’s future is bright.”
