Jerry Yang, CEO of Yahoo, has resigned. He had resisted takeover bids from Microsoft but later asked for merger talks to continue. Jerry Yang wrote a memo to the company stating he would hold his position until his successor was named and would actively participate in that process. Jerry Yang said he would return to his previous role as Chief Yahoo, a corporate strategy role.
“i strongly believe that having transformed our platform and better aligned costs and revenues, we have a unique window for the right ceo to take ownership over the next wave of mission-critical decisions facing the company.”
Jerry Yang wrote his memo in his typical fashion with no captial letters. Jerry Yang reigned as CEO of Yahoo for 18 months and will remain with the company actively on the executive board, just in another position.
Mr. Yang’s most trying period began in February when Microsoft made an unsolicited bid for the company. He initially refused to accept Microsoft’s bid of $31 a share, a 62 percent premium to its then share price of $19.18. In the following months of negotiations, he showed some willingness to sell the company, but at a much higher price than Microsoft was willing to pay. Microsoft rescinded its offer in May.
Mr. Yang then made an advertising deal with its arch rival Google. The deal was supposed to bring Yahoo $250 million to $450 million in additional cash flow in the first year. Google would deliver ads next to some of Yahoo’s search results and on some of its Web sites in the United States and Canada. Under pressure from regulators over antitrust concerns, Google backed out of the deal this month.
Many analysts and investors have suggested that without the deal, Yahoo would be forced to consider one of two options: a deal with Microsoft, or a merger with AOL.
Yahoo and AOL have discussed a merger for months.
“all of you know that i have always, and will always bleed purple,”
Mr. Yang wrote in the memorandum, a reference to Yahoo’s corporate color.
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