Yahoo Co-Founder Yang Now In Charge

Raver32 writes "Yahoo Inc. Chairman Terry Semel ended his six-year tenure as chief executive officer today and will hand over the reins to co-founder Jerry Yang in the Internet icon's latest attempt to regain investor confidence. Semel, 64, will remain chairman in a non-executive role. Besides naming Yang as its new CEO, Yahoo appointed Susan Decker as its president. Decker, who had been recently promoted to oversee Yahoo's advertising operations, had widely been seen as Semel's heir apparent."

Comments

Lets hope they change

[WindBourne]

Yahoo has been run into the ground because it was treated like a telcom. The employees have minimal incentive to really innovate. If they return to treating employees like part owners (the way they use and the way that Google currently does), then they stand a chance to compete. Until then, they will remain a second rate search engine.

Re:Lets hope they change

[EveryNickIsTaken]

Until then, they will remain a second rate search engine. Giving John Doe in software development a raise and stock options will not make Yahoo! the number one search engine. Changing their business plan (if they have one) and offering something that every other search engine doesn't will.

Re:Lets hope they change

[jb.cancer]

Giving John Doe in software development a raise and stock options will not make Yahoo! the number one search engine. Changing their business plan (if they have one) and offering something that every other search engine doesn't will. and how do you think they'll come up with that 'something innovative'. No matter what kind of process/model you follow it's the *people* who work there that will make the difference. Remember, not everyone is a John Doe, and those special people need to feel like the place where they work is part of them in order to motivate them and get the best. otherwise it's just a matter of time. so i go with GP.

Always quit while you're #1

[niceone]

Always quit while you're #1 - from TFA: "Semel ranked No. 1 on The Associated Press' survey of 2006 executive compensation with $71.7 million (U.S.)"

I'm guessing Yahoo's performance was not quite #1 though.

pattern?

[dotpavan]

notice a pattern? Founder returning to take charge when things are bad, like in the case of Dell, Apple

Yahoo needs a lot more than head changes

[erroneus]

They need to give back to the community in ways that corporate mentality does not permit.

They also need to make some serious technical advancements to work against their currently spammy environment. Once they get the spammy nature of their internet operations back under control, they can focus on community projects to build a fan-base which they sorely need and then start to work on professional services.

It's not just "too easy" to be an advertiser, it marks against them. They need to at least APPEAR to be a community force on the internet that happens to do a little advertising on the side to pay the bills.

Re:Mediocre is good enough

[Bluesman]

Yahoo is a public company.

If I'm going to invest in a company, I'd like to see a return on that investment that is at least as good as the market average. Otherwise, I'm better off with an index fund or some other type of investment.

It's not good enough for a public company to simply make a profit, since it's competing for investment dollars with all other public companies. The company has to be seen as an investment that will generate greater returns than the various other investment options out there.

While it may seem silly that a profitable company is still "in trouble," this is the risk that is taken when a company goes public. A private company could make $1 net profit, and that's $1 more than it needs to survive.