DAILYHOSTNEWS, January19, 2012 – Yang, who founded one of the world’s biggest online businesses alongside David Filo, in 1995, had been tipped by a number of major news sources to resign some months previous, having been cited as an “impediment to the sale or restructuring of the business” in relation to a previous £31bn Microsoft takeover bid.
The company’s board of directors had overseen a number of recent high-profile changes, including last September’s very public sacking of CEO Carol Bartz, and this month’s appointment of PayPal’s Scott Thompson, to replace her.
And with Thompson outlining potential wholesale changes to Yahoo’s future business objectives, it appears the time was right for Yang to step aside from the multi-billion dollar media giant he developed from inception, almost 20 years ago.
“The time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo!” Yang stated, in an open resignation letter to the board.
“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.”
“Jerry Yang is a visionary and a pioneer, who has contributed enormously to Yahoo! during his many years of service,” said Roy Bostock, Chairman of the Yahoo! Board.
“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.”
It is unknown, as yet, what exactly Yang’s future endeavors will be, however Yahoo!’s could prove to be very different without his presence on the company’s board. Share prices have already risen 3.4% in relation to the news of his resignation, and there are likely to be a number of fresh stories in the coming months related to further potential takeovers.
