Terry Semel Steps Down As Yahoo! Chief Exec

Terry Semel, chief executive and chairman of Yahoo!, has stepped down after six years at the online giant, to be replaced by Jerry Yang, Yahoo! co-founder.

Semel had been facing criticism from some quarters over Yahoo!’s apparent financial sluggishness compared to competitors such as Google.

The announcement of his departure saw shares in the company rise more than 3% in the US yesterday.

Susan Decker, who became Yahoo!’s executive vice-president last December, has been promoted to president of the company.

In a letter to the Yahoo! board, Semel said that “none of us is at all satisfied with the company’s recent financial performance”, although he added that “Yahoo! continues to have tremendous fundamental strengths. We remain the leader in internet advertising and a powerful competitive force in markets around the globe”.

Semel added: “I know we all agree that Jerry and Sue, with their superb talents and intense dedication to Yahoo! and its people, are the perfect combination to carry us forward. This is the time for new executive leadership, with different skills and strengths, to step in and drive the company to realize its full potential – it is the right thing to do, and the right time is now.”

Yahoo! director Ed Kozel said on behalf of the board: “We believe there is no better person in the world to run Yahoo! now than our visionary co-founder Jerry Yang, who has helped build and run this company over the past 12 years.

“Jerry provides phenomenal strategic, technical, product and market leadership, and has developed important relationships with major business partners around the globe.

“In our new president, Sue Decker, Jerry has the perfect partner. Sue has long been a key leader within the company, and as she has assumed broader operational responsibilities, she has demonstrated her ability to build successful teams, forge critical partnerships and drive some of our most critical business initiatives.”

In May, Yahoo! launched Panama, a new search advertising service intended to challenge Google’s dominance of online advertising (see Yahoo! Launches New Search Ad Service).

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