Yahoo cofounder Jerry Yang has resigned his role as CEO and Yahoo’s board has initiated a search for his successor. Yang will return to his former role as chief yahoo as soon as the board finds a replacement. He will continue to serve on the board.
Yahoo’s stock price rose with the announcement and was trading at $11.35 at mid-afternoon Tuesday, up from Monday’s $10.63 close.
The 40-year-old Yang stepped into the CEO role at the board’s request in June 2007 to lead the company through a strategic repositioning and transformation of its platform.
Yang said since he cofounded Yahoo and guided its growth into a trusted global brand, he has sought to do what is best for the Internet search giant. So when the board asked him to become CEO, Yang said, he accepted because it was important to revision the business for a different era.
“Having set Yahoo on a new, more open path, the time is right for me to transition the CEO role and our global talent to a new leader,” Yang said. “I will continue to focus on global strategy and to do everything I can to help Yahoo realize its full potential and enhance its leading culture of technology and product excellence and innovation.”
Finding a Successor
In conjunction with the independent directors and in consultation with Yang, Chairman Roy Bostock is leading the process of vetting potential candidates and selecting finalists to become the troubled company’s next CEO. The company said the board will consider both internal and external candidates and has retained Heidrick & Struggles, a leading international executive search firm, to assist.
“Over the past year and a half, despite extraordinary challenges and distractions, Jerry Yang has led the repositioning of Yahoo on an open platform model as well as the improved alignment of costs and revenues,”…