Yahoo Co-Founder Jerry Yang Resigns From All Positions at Company

[Dusco25]

Yahoo! (

YHOO

: 15.43, -0.05, -0.32%) disclosed late Tuesday the resignation of co-founder Jerry Yang, raising the hopes of investors for a sale of the struggling Internet company?s Asian assets.

The surprise exit by Yang, who started the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company in 1995, sent its stock jumping more than 4% in after-hours trading.

In addition to stepping down as a director from Yahoo!, Yang is resigning from the boards of Yahoo! Japan and Alibaba Group effective immediately.

?My time at Yahoo!, from its founding to the present, has encompassed some of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life. However, the time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo!,? Yang said in a statement.

The news raised the prospects of Yahoo! unloading its stakes in its Asian assets, a move that Yang had reportedly been reluctant to make.

Shares of Yahoo! rallied 4.02% to $16.05 in late trading. The rally could help erase a 4% decline in the company?s stock so far this month.

?Jerry Yang is a visionary and a pioneer, who has contributed enormously to Yahoo! during his many years of service,? said Yahoo! Chairman Roy Bostock. ?His unique strategic insights have been invaluable. He has always remained focused on the best interests of Yahoo!?s stakeholders, including shareholders, employees and more than 700 million users.?

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http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2012/01/17/yahoo-co-founder-jerry-yang-resigns-from-board/#ixzz1jkyarDKZ

[BetaAddict]

The surprised exit

Seriously? Nothing surprising about it at all. The guy's presence has done more harm than good for the company over the past years and should have been fired instead.

[kizuran]

Seriously? Nothing surprising about it at all. The guy's presence has done more harm than good for the company over the past years and should have been fired instead.

What makes you say that? Care to explain to a guy that's spent the last year or two living under a "tech financial news" rock? :pinch:

[gnuman]

It's far too late for him to step down. The damage seems to be done. He was more of a dictator than anything else than a real CEO. He was stupid not taking Microsoft's offer but he had to come with the package deal

[teknix360]

Wow! That's really surprising news. It seems like they are preparing for the end at Yahoo.

Another perspective over at CNet - http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57360539-93/yahoo-co-founder-jerry-yang-resigns-from-web-giant/

[BetaAddict]

What makes you say that? Care to explain to a guy that's spent the last year or two living under a "tech financial news" rock? :pinch:

It's far too late for him to step down. The damage seems to be done. He was more of a dictator than anything else than a real CEO. He was stupid not taking Microsoft's offer but he had to come with the package deal

I will forever hold that against him. If it weren't for his weight as a co-founder of the company, that deal should have gone through and the sites would be leveraged into MSN to create a stronger competitor to go up against google. Instead Yahoo continues to rot into the ground due to their inability to grow or even define what their vision is anymore. They have a few solid sites like finance, news, sports, and flickr, but isn't enough to retain users for core services like email.

Best hope is that at the $19B current valuation, MS could still buy Yahoo assets for $24B (20% premium) and still can it a bargain compared to the $44B deal they offered a couple years back.

[BetaAddict]

Wow! That's really surprising news. It seems like they are preparing for the end at Yahoo.

Another perspective over at CNet - http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57360539-93/yahoo-co-founder-jerry-yang-resigns-from-web-giant/

Yeah, basically what I'm saying above. It's not surprising that he is resigning. But what is surprising is that it took this long for him and some of the board to finally admit Yahoo is a sinking ship.

[Growled Member]

Too little, too late.