Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang (楊致遠), who earned the ire of many shareholders for rejecting a US$47 billion takeover offer from Microsoft, is stepping down as chief executive of the Internet company.
The Sunnyvale, California, firm said on Monday that Yang, 40, who took more than as chief executive just over a year ago, would remain in the post until a replacement could be found by the board of directors.
“Jerry and the board have had an ongoing dialogue about succession timing, and we all agree that now is the right time to make the transition to a new CEO who can take the company to the next level,” Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock said.
“We are deeply grateful to Jerry for his many contributions as CEO over the past 18 months, and we are pleased that he plans to stay actively involved at Yahoo as a key executive and member of the board,” he said in a statement.
Yahoo said Yang, who founded the popular Web portal in 1995 at the age of 26 with Stanford University classmate David Filo and became a billionaire when it went public the next year, would remain in a strategic role at the company.
Yang said it was time to turn Yahoo, whose share price has plunged during the past year, over to a new leader.
“From founding this company to guiding its growth into a trusted global brand that is indispensable to millions of people, I have always sought to do what is best for our franchise,” Yang said in a statement.
“When the board asked me to become CEO and lead the transformation of the company, I did so because it was important to re-envision the business for a different era to drive more effective growth,” he said.
“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,” he 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.”
Since taking over as chief executive in June last year, Yang’s stewardship of the company has come in for heavy criticism and his departure could possibly open the way for renewed talks with Microsoft.
Yang’s rejection of Microsoft’s US$33-a-share takeover bid was met with disapproval by many shareholders, including billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who led a revolt against Yang and was eventually named to Yahoo’s board.
A proposed advertising partnership with Internet search king Google fell through this month amid opposition from US Justice Department antitrust regulators. The deal had been expected to earn Yahoo hundreds of millions of dollars in the first year alone.
Yahoo has been trading at around US$10 to US$12 a share recently.
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