Jerry Yang steps down from Yahoo

Published:  19 Jan at 10 AM

Co-founder of Yahoo! Jerry Yang is to depart from the company after he announced his retirement to the board of directors. Mr Yang, who held the position of chief executive from June 2007 up until January 2009, established Yahoo! alongside David Filo in 1995.

His decision to depart comes a fortnight after the online company announced that its new chief executive was to be Scott Thompson, a former executive with PayPal. Mr Yang has also stepped down from the boards of Alibaba Group and Yahoo! Japan. He said that he had made the decision to leave Yahoo! because he felt that the time was right to start pursuing other interests.

In 2008, Mr Yang upset many of the company’s shareholders by blocking a takeover bid by computer giant Microsoft. The deal would have been worth $47.5 billion. Yahoo! is currently valued at around $20 billion.

Mr Yang added that he was pleased by the appointment of Mr Thompson as chief executive, and that he was sure that the leadership team was capable of steering Yahoo! towards a successful and exciting future. Analysts believe that Mr Yang’s departure will be a positive thing for the company, and for Mr Thompson, as he was considered an impediment to restructuring and a possible sale.

Roy Bostock, chairman, said that the board respected Mr Yang’s decision, and that Yahoo! would miss his wise council, vision and remarkable perspective. Shares rose 3.4 per cent after the announcement.