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Internet Yahoo CEO Resigns
Brandon Hill (Blog) - June 18, 2007 6:02 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 19 comment(s) - last by MatthewAC.. on Jun 21 at 2:21 PM

Yahoo's Jerry Yang
Yahoo brings in a familiar face for its new CEO

Yahoo has spent quite a bit of time chasing Google's tail lights in the search engine race. Google over the past six months used its power to make advances in the advertising arena -- key examples of this are its $3.1 billion USD purchase of DoubleClick and its partnership with EchoStar. Yahoo in return inked online advertising deals with newspapers and purchased Right Media for $680 million USD.

The feud between the two search giants appears to be taking its toll on Yahoo. Today, Yahoo announced that Terry Semel is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer.

Semel has been Yahoo's CEO since 2001 and witnessed the company's revenues increase nearly nine-fold to $6.4 billion USD under his tenure. Yahoo's Board of Directors also acknowledges that Semel has created over $30 billion USD in shareholder value and increased its user base from 170 million users in 2001 to over 500 million users today. In addition, Yahoo's workforce has increased from 3,500 to 12,000 employees over the past 6 years.

 “Today, we are again addressing challenges created by dramatic changes in the needs of audiences and advertisers,” said Semel. “And of course none of us is at all satisfied with the company's recent financial performance. Despite these difficulties, however, Yahoo! continues to have tremendous fundamental strengths.”

The company will be heading in a new direction under the leadership of Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and Susan Decker who was named company president.

“We believe there is no better person in the world to run Yahoo! now than our visionary co-founder Jerry Yang, who has helped build and run this company over the past 12 years. Jerry provides phenomenal strategic, technical, product and market leadership, and has developed important relationships with major business partners around the globe," said Ed Kozel of Yahoo's board of directors.

"In our new President, Sue Decker, Jerry has the perfect partner. Sue has long been a key leader within the company, and as she has assumed broader operational responsibilities, she has demonstrated her ability to build successful teams, forge critical partnerships and drive some of our most critical business initiatives," continued Kozel.

Yang and Decker will work together to embark on a new vision for Yahoo to help the company succeed in today's environment. "What is that vision? A Yahoo! that executes with speed, clarity and discipline. A Yahoo! that increases its focus on differentiating its products and investing in creativity and innovation," said Yang. "A Yahoo! that better monetizes its audience. A Yahoo! whose great talent is galvanized to address its challenges. And a Yahoo! that is better focused on what’s important to its users, customers, and employees."

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Missed the boat!
By Ringold on 6/18/2007 6:44:49 PM , Rating: 2
Stock already up 4.84% in the after-hours. Damn.

Congratulations to those who foresaw that pathetic management just couldn't last forever.

Hmm.. Still well off its 52wk high.. I'm not Jim Cramer, though, so I don't know.




RE: Missed the boat!
By Etsp on 6/18/2007 7:34:23 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
Semel has been Yahoo's CEO since 2001 and witnessed the company's revenues increase nearly nine-fold to $6.4 billion USD under his tenure. Yahoo's Board of Directors also acknowledges that Semel has created over $30 billion USD in shareholder value and increased its user base from 170 million users in 2001 to over 500 million users today.


Yeah...I would never want a CEO who increases my revenue by nine-fold over the course of 6 years to stay, those kind of numbers are pathetic.....He needs to have a meeting with the Bob's to see where he really fit in the company.


RE: Missed the boat!
By Bioniccrackmonk on 6/19/2007 9:08:27 AM , Rating: 2
So what would you say it is that you really DO here?


RE: Missed the boat!
By Ringold on 6/19/2007 1:25:08 PM , Rating: 2
I could hold your hand and explain it to you but the fact the stock immediately appreciated says the collective wisdom of the markets believes its a positive that Semel left. The stock drifts lower today over what seems to be uncertainty if this guy will be an interim CEO and if he'll be open or not to "strategic alternatives"; ie, selling the company to someone else who can actually execute effectively. One could write a list a mile long while Semel failed, but merely looking at a 9 fold increase in revenue alone and thinking "Gee golly, thats great, all hail Semel" just belies you don't know what's going on there. I recommend mutual funds for you, not stocks. ;)


RE: Missed the boat!
By MatthewAC on 6/21/2007 2:21:31 PM , Rating: 2
Then he'll blame his boss, then the bobs will be afraid to fire god, so guess what, your stuck with the same guy.*Office Space logic


Simple way to attract more users to Yahoo!
By AndyUK on 6/19/2007 6:32:55 AM , Rating: 2
Clean up their interface and stop all the flash/photo/what ever advertising all over the screen, Google’s interface is clean and loads quickly, hence why me and lots of others moved away from the likes of Yahoo!




RE: Simple way to attract more users to Yahoo!
By Golgatha on 6/19/2007 6:43:32 AM , Rating: 2
Also, quit using 30-40% of the screen real estate to display ads in the webmail I PAY you to use.


By SilthDraeth on 6/19/2007 9:48:35 AM , Rating: 2
I use yahoo web mail also, the $20 a year service. I don't see any adds. Please explain further.


By MobileZone on 6/20/2007 12:51:56 PM , Rating: 2
Clean interface(true) and dirty intentions behind.


Resigned?
By TomZ on 6/18/2007 6:52:24 PM , Rating: 2
Probably more like "ousted."




RE: Resigned?
By crystal clear on 6/19/2007 2:27:34 AM , Rating: 3
Yes you are right-read this:

Last week, one-third of Yahoo shareholders challenged the Sunnyvale, California-based company's direction at its annual meeting, voting against some board-nominated directors.

"I am surprised that you didn't apologize for the last three years of performance," activist shareholder Eric Jackson said at the meeting, in comments directed at Semel.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSWEN8829...

Semel has been under scrutiny from shareholders who have expressed bewilderment at his generous pay packages while Yahoo stock has gone nowhere and rival Google Inc. widens its competitive lead. Semel, the former co-chairman of Warner Bros., has earned about $450 million, mostly from Yahoo stock options, since taking over as CEO in May 2001.

While Yahoo was rebounding from the bursting of the Internet bubble, Semel's hefty compensation was a nonissue. More recently, Yahoo shares dropped 35 percent last year while Semel earned $71.7 million.

That was a bit too much to take for shareholders, who criticized Semel and other top management at the company's shareholder meeting last week, prompting observers to speculate that Semel would soon be out.

http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN1...


Lots of money for so few employees
By Etsp on 6/18/2007 6:35:59 PM , Rating: 2
Naturally... revenue is not the same as profit... however, with only 13,000+ employees and 6.4 billion dollars of it... you'd think that a fair share for most employees would be at least a few million dollars right? Of course, my calculations are really fuzzy math, but I saw those numbers and that was what popped into my head...




By crimson117 on 6/18/2007 8:35:33 PM , Rating: 2
Those employees didn't start with nothing, work for free, and just create 6.4 billion dollars of revenue. The employees took shareholder money, bought computers and software etc with that money, and made profit off of it. So the shareholders who put up tons of their money by buying stock should see a return on that money before the employees get a cut. Some employees got to buy stock at a good price (options), so they could get in on this if they wanted to.


The Two Search Giants....?
By porkpie on 6/19/2007 11:01:16 AM , Rating: 3
Yahoo has a search engine? :p




Deadwood
By crystal clear on 6/19/2007 2:41:08 AM , Rating: 2
The shareholders got rid of the deadwood because they thought You cannot teach an old dog new tricks.

Senior management frequently use this terminology to fire older employees.

Now the shareholders do exaactly that, to those managers that used these tactics. .




Wait and See
By spillai on 6/19/2007 11:02:56 AM , Rating: 2
Just wait and see Jerry Yangs Vision about Yahoo.
It is different world than when he founded yahoo, competition is also tough. Lets see what he has to say.
Satheesh
Knowledgevibes.com




Downsyndrome?
By GhandiInstinct on 6/18/07, Rating: -1
RE: Downsyndrome?
By Puddleglum1 on 6/19/2007 11:01:48 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah, that's a stupid comment.

I think it looks like a rather friendly picture for a CEO. Reminds me of Gates'.


RE: Downsyndrome?
By Cerberus81 on 6/21/2007 12:22:27 AM , Rating: 2
The problem lies with the glasses; the lenses are so strong that they "scrunch" his face visually. Time for laser surgery...


"A politician stumbles over himself... Then they pick it out. They edit it. He runs the clip, and then he makes a funny face, and the whole audience has a Pavlovian response." -- Joe Scarborough on John Stewart over Jim Cramer

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