Kal Korff

Yahoo Co-founder Jerry Yang Resigns

by Kal K. Korff
Internationally Syndicated Copyright 2011 by Kal K. Korff - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Yahoo.com, which once ruled the online search engine world before losing the position to Google, has lost its legendary Co-founder Jerry Yang, who abruptly resigned from the company on Tuesday after 17 years at the helm. 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, and to guide Yahoo into an exciting and successful future, he said. While Yang said he was leaving Yahoo to pursue other interests, the full truth is a bit more complicated. Yang was widely blamed by market analysts, Yahoos stockholders and even board members for blowing a lucrative deal with Microsoft when the Windows software giant offered to buy Yahoo to shore up their own fledgling search engine, Bing. Yangs refusal to accept Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmers offer of $45 billion was a decision the company never recovered from. Viewed as more of an obstructionist during his past few years than a visionary asset, Jerry Yangs departure was welcomed by the Wall Street. Immediately after the official announcement of his resignation, shares of Yahoos stock rose 4 per cent to close at $15.85 per share. Since his rejection of Microsofts buyout offer, Yang seemed to realise his mistake. At a Web 2.0 conference held in SanFranciso, he ruefully remarked: That is something that I know I will be labeled with forever. As a defensive strategy to counter the widespread criticism and justify his decision to turn down Microsoft, Yang tried to launch various initiatives to buy back the shares of Yahoo and to retake ownership of the company. He even solicited bids from another troubled online competitor, America Online, but was unsuccessful.

Yahoo ended up eventually making a deal with Microsoft to incorporate Bings search engine technology in exchange for several billion dollars, but it was a far cry from the $45 billion the Redmond based software giant had previously generously offered. Yang owns 3.85 per cent of Yahoo based on his stock portfolio, it remains to be seen whether he will sell all of his shares, or keep them. Yahoo announced that Scott Thompson will replace Yang. Thompson is famous for turning around the fortunes of PayPal and is a highly regarded executive. Yahoo was able to lower key parts of its operating costs over the past two quarters, but these savings came from closing major offices and laying off many of the workers. The search engine firm was created in 1995 by Yang and his partner David Filo. The two were students at Stanford University when they founded the company in the early heydays of the dotcom financial boom. 1.0v1 Thursday, January 19, 2012 Kal K. Korff is an officially accredited internationally known author, columnist and investigative journalist.

Copyright 2011 by Kal K. Korff - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this content may be reproduced in any form nor by any means without the express, written consent of Kal Korff. Fair use, does NOT apply. By reading this document, you willingly agree to be legally bound by its terms and conditions. Violators of this policy will have a felony DMCA Copyright infringement notice filed against them with law enforcement. First time offenders may be fined up to $500,000, imprisoned for five years, or both. For repeat offenders, the maximum penalty increases to a fine of $1,000,000, imprisonment for up to ten years, or both. This is a DMCA protected document, illegal copying and/or reproduction of its contents are tracked on the Internet and reported to law enforcement for felony prosecution.

Copyright 2011 by Kal K. Korff - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this content may be reproduced in any form nor by any means without the express, written consent of Kal Korff. Fair use, does NOT apply. By reading this document, you willingly agree to be legally bound by its terms and conditions. Violators of this policy will have a felony DMCA Copyright infringement notice filed against them with law enforcement. First time offenders may be fined up to $500,000, imprisoned for five years, or both. For repeat offenders, the maximum penalty increases to a fine of $1,000,000, imprisonment for up to ten years, or both. This is a DMCA protected document, illegal copying and/or reproduction of its contents are tracked on the Internet and reported to law enforcement for felony prosecution.

Copyright 2011 by Kal K. Korff - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this content may be reproduced in any form nor by any means without the express, written consent of Kal Korff. Fair use, does NOT apply. By reading this document, you willingly agree to be legally bound by its terms and conditions. Violators of this policy will have a felony DMCA Copyright infringement notice filed against them with law enforcement. First time offenders may be fined up to $500,000, imprisoned for five years, or both. For repeat offenders, the maximum penalty increases to a fine of $1,000,000, imprisonment for up to ten years, or both. This is a DMCA protected document, illegal copying and/or reproduction of its contents are tracked on the Internet and reported to law enforcement for felony prosecution.