After angering shareholders with lackluster returns, Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Terry Semel is stepping down. After bringing Yahoo back from the brink of extinction, Semel was unable to find a coherent new strategy for the Web's most popular destination. Yahoo's problems have been apparent for quite some time. Outgunned by Google in search and increasingly by MySpace in online media, Semel could never quite find his footing. Over the past couple years, his Hollywood experiment to turn Yahoo into a Web studio went nowhere, he flubbed the chance to buy both Facebook and YouTube, and he oversaw an exodus of talent to startups and competitors alike.
In Semel's place, co-founder Jerry Yang will take the CEO reins. But expect that to be a temporary measure.
Also announced was the promotion of Susan Decker to president. Decker, Yahoo's former CFO who was put in charge of the new advertiser and publisher group just last December, is widely seen as the favorite for the top spot—if she can prove her chops in an operating role. As head of the advertiser group, she was in charge of Yahoo's new Panama advertising system, which is supposed to help it compete more effectively against Google. Now, she will be responsible for all of Yahoo's operations. If she can reignite growth, and the stock, that CEO title could become hers as well.
If she can't, then expect the board to find a new CEO from outside Yahoo. Or else to combine forces with Microsoft.
It is always a shocking thing to see a person disappearing from media who were a big news in the industry..
Posted by: Song | June 18, 2007 at 02:16 PM
Yahoo and Jerry Yang goes hand-in-hand, like peanut butter and jelly. Jerry had an exciting vision for Yahoo during the hay days which is what I think the company is trying to bring back. At the same time, having Susan Decker as President, a powerful combination gets created. I would not assume that Jerry Yang will step aside too soon...
Posted by: Martin | June 18, 2007 at 02:37 PM
Seems like just another one of Semel's media announcements with no real impact. Decker is the moron who knowingly let Overture's industry lead slip away, and Yang is out of touch with the company's employees--neither of them command respect, nor can return any respect tot he company or its stock. Upper mgmt has been raping the little guy at Yahoo! for years, and morale could not be any lower. These changes are window dressing and will not help the company. Decker and Yang should go, and Terry should be kicked off the Board completely for taking so much money from shareholders and employees, while providing nothing but a Hollywood mentality and a string of failures to execute, integrate or produce. A step in the right direction, but still a long way to go for Yahoo to recover any shine...
Posted by: Ex Yahoo Exec | June 19, 2007 at 08:23 AM
Loss of "the big picture" and promoting the Hollywood mentality that Steve Chase got caught up in with his TW fiasco, appears to be the same track we see here with Yahoo. Regardless of Semels departure (with approximately 1 Million for every single subscriber in pocket), his continued position in the background shows the greed mentality the entire group of execs covet...including Decker, who is licking her chops waiting her turn at the CEO mega perks that go with any .com coasting on public confusion.
Posted by: MediMax | June 25, 2007 at 09:38 AM