Yahoo’s CEO Jerry Yang steps down from his post. He is the co-founder of Yahoo Inc. Yahoo was one the most popular search engines it was one of the oldest contenders of the online search market. Lately, things were not going that right for Yahoo after its failure to tie up with Microsoft. Earlier this year, Microsoft offered $47.5 billion for Yahoo. At that time, Yahoo refused saying that Microsoft has underestimated Yahoo’s potential. Google almost signed up a deal with Yahoo in the area of internet search. Yahoo was hoping that things would change for the better. However, Yahoo – Google deal did not materialize after a long struggle. Yahoo- Google deal elicited a lot of opposition from different quarters fearing that such a deal would monopolize the search advertising. Google finally walked away from the deal. After Google’s walk away, Yahoo tried to renew its talks with Microsoft on the possibility of Microsoft buying Yahoo. It was Microsoft chance to hit back and it said that Microsoft is not interested in buying Yahoo anymore.
Along side this long series of deals and no-deal episodes, Yahoo’s share value continued to drop and it has come down to one-third of the price that Microsoft offered to pay Yahoo. Yahoo’s CEO Jerry Chang and its cofounder had to step down hoping that new thinking will make things work for Yahoo. All those who have invested in Yahoo’s shares have been eagerly waiting for the increase in the share value. They hoped that the deal with Microsoft would increase the Yahoo’s share values and the same happened with the Yahoo-Google deal. Unfortunately, in both instances Yahoo left its investors in disappointment. Now that the there is no immediate or quick remedy to rectify the mistakes of the past, Yahoo’s market value seems to drop drastically. It has to strive 10 times harder to get things back to normal. As of now, no one has been named as replacement for Jerry Yang. The current CEO will not step down until a suitable replacement has been found. The interview process has already begun to find a suitable replacement. The interview panel is led by Roy Bostock, the chairperson. The Chairman and the company feel that it is time for the transition that will take the company to the next level.
Though the co-founder is stepping down from his role as CEO, he will still be affiliated to Yahoo. He will hold a titular role that he had before he took his office as CEO in 2007. He is also expected to be part of the Board of Directors. Besides its own success, Yahoo is answerable to its investors. So the best way to go about is to bring in a suitable person for this chair. According to Yang’s words, “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.”
The entire online community and the investors are waiting for the new CEO to work wonders with Yahoo.