Jerry Yang must have finally gotten the message. The steady exodus of executives preceding him has worn a path in Yahoo!’s carpet over the last two or three years, and now Yang, a co-founder and board member, has resigned.
Soon after Yang’s leaving on January 17, the company’s stock quickly rose more than 4% in after-hours trading, according to the New York Times’ DealBook.
Yang abruptly resigned after tapping out a letter to Yahoo! Chairman Roy Bostock to say he was leaving to pursue “other interests outside of Yahoo.” Although he’s been with the company since 1995, which he founded with David Filo, he has faced relentless pressure since he served as CEO in 2007. His tenure failed to generate much sales growth for the company, which struggled against Google’s new popularity. In 2008, while he was still CEO, the company rebuffed a $45 billion buyout offer by Microsoft. It seems that Yahoo! has been battling ever since, trying to fend off one blow after another while competing with Google and Facebook.
Yang’s departure has been seen as a good sign by some of the company’s major investors. Now newly minted CEO Scott Thompson is thought to have a better chance at negotiating with the company’s partners, China’s Alibaba Group and Japan’s SoftBank, in buying back some of Yahoo!’s stakes in Asian assets. Shareholder Daniel Loeb of Third Point, who may possibly lead a proxy fight at the company’s next board meeting, has been one of Yang’s fiercest critics.
Upon leaving, Yang also resigned from the boards of Yahoo Japan and the Alibaba Group. Although other board members might follow Yang out the door, a clean slate cannot easily erase the company’s mounds of problems.
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