OMEN
06-19-2007, 12:36 PM
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NEW CEO: Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang is to take over from Terry Semel as the new head of the company
Following investor pressure for a management shake-up, Yahoo Chairman and Chief Executive Terry Semel is stepping aside and will be replaced as CEO by co-founder Jerry Yang.
The announcement by the Sunnyvale, California-based company saw shares rise 3.5 per cent in extended trade.
Yahoo said Semel was named nonexecutive chairman of the company's board of directors. It also named Susan Decker, the company's former chief financial officer, as president of the company.
Semel, a long-time Hollywood studio executive who took charge of the company six years ago in the wake of the bursting of the technology stock bubble, is credited with helping to stabilize the company's advertising and media businesses.
But in recent years he has met with a chorus of criticism for failing to move faster to meet the challenge first of Google in web search and advertising and, more recently, in the rise of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
In a statement, Semel said he had told Yahoo's board that it was "my desire to take a step back sooner rather than later" and he praised the combination of Yang and Decker as Yahoo's new leadership.
"This is the time for new executive leadership, with different skills and strengths, to step in and drive the company to realize its (Yahoo's) full potential – it is the right thing to do, and the right time is now," Semel said.
Shares of Yahoo were trading up 90 cents at $US29.02 ($NZ38.99) in after-hours trade following the company announcement.
Reuters
NEW CEO: Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang is to take over from Terry Semel as the new head of the company
Following investor pressure for a management shake-up, Yahoo Chairman and Chief Executive Terry Semel is stepping aside and will be replaced as CEO by co-founder Jerry Yang.
The announcement by the Sunnyvale, California-based company saw shares rise 3.5 per cent in extended trade.
Yahoo said Semel was named nonexecutive chairman of the company's board of directors. It also named Susan Decker, the company's former chief financial officer, as president of the company.
Semel, a long-time Hollywood studio executive who took charge of the company six years ago in the wake of the bursting of the technology stock bubble, is credited with helping to stabilize the company's advertising and media businesses.
But in recent years he has met with a chorus of criticism for failing to move faster to meet the challenge first of Google in web search and advertising and, more recently, in the rise of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
In a statement, Semel said he had told Yahoo's board that it was "my desire to take a step back sooner rather than later" and he praised the combination of Yang and Decker as Yahoo's new leadership.
"This is the time for new executive leadership, with different skills and strengths, to step in and drive the company to realize its (Yahoo's) full potential – it is the right thing to do, and the right time is now," Semel said.
Shares of Yahoo were trading up 90 cents at $US29.02 ($NZ38.99) in after-hours trade following the company announcement.
Reuters