Semel Ousted From Top Spot At Yahoo

from the matter-of-time dept

Mon, Jun 18th 2007 1:40pm — Joseph Weisenthal

The long simmering shareholder disappointment in Yahoo CEO Terry Semel has finally resulted in his ouster as the company announced that co-founder Jerry Yang would assume the CEO position, relegating Semel to the role of non-executive chairman. Rumors of Semel's demise have been buzzing loudly over the last few days, following the company's tempestuous shareholder meeting last week. The return of Yang to the top spot has echoes of Dell and Apple, both of which turned to their founders to revive flagging fortunes. In Apple's case, the move was an unbridled success, while the fate of Dell remains to be seen. Obviously, Yahoo has been bloodied pretty badly over the last few years, as it's watched Google assume online prominence. Getting rid of Semel is probably a good first step, since it didn't seem like he had a coherent turnaround plan (or even a strong understanding of the industry), but it's going to take a lot more than that to right the ship.

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10 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2007 @ 2:45pm

Who, except for industry insiders, really cares? Is that the constituency of this site?
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Andy, 18 Jun 2007 @ 3:21pm

Using the comment ability to question what constitutes the assumed content of of this site is getting old.

The Internet is big, go find a site that you feel more comfortable reading.
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thinlizzy151, 18 Jun 2007 @ 3:46pm

Yahoo
I doubt that anyone outside of Wall Street or who gets their paycheck from Yahoo really gives much of a damn what happens to them. They don't offer anything that you can't get elsewhere(usually meaning Google). Pioneers, which Yahoo certainly was, often fall by the wayside, left behind by those who never would have existed had it not been for them. So it goes. I never even think of them in reference to search, Ask is where it's at when Google isn't enough. Google beats the hell out of them for web-based mail. These guys really need something, or they're going to end up like Detroit, a forgotten shadow of former glory. Nobody misses Plymouth, and nobody will miss Yahoo.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2007 @ 5:09pm

Jerry has not been CEO of Y! since before TK arrived in 1995 (pre-IPO), calling this a return is a huge overstatement. I think Jerry was Y! CEO for about 6 months, 12 years ago.
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Charles Griswold, 18 Jun 2007 @ 6:11pm

Re:
Who, except for industry insiders, really cares? Is that the constituency of this site?
Yes, industry insiders are part of the constituency of this site.
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Overture Ex, 18 Jun 2007 @ 6:33pm

It's about time....it's about time...dismantled and threw away his most profitable division, justice is finally being served! OVERTURE-CJ!!
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Overture Ex, 18 Jun 2007 @ 6:33pm

It's about time....it's about time...dismantled and threw away his most profitable division, justice is finally being served! OVERTURE-CJ!!
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2007 @ 7:04pm

Re:
> Who, except for industry insiders, really cares? Is that the constituency of this site?

Considering that this story is dominating techmeme and seems to be at the top of just about every tech related site... uh, yeah, I'd say a lot of people care, including the constituency of this site. This is pretty big news.
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Cranston, 18 Jun 2007 @ 7:26pm

Meta-commenting
I love the fact that some anonymoron can stir up discontent.

Frankly, I think it's interesting that the MBA assumption that the founder can't run a company is being proven a huge failure time (Apple) after time (Dell) after time (Yahoo).
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Paul, 19 Jun 2007 @ 6:31am

Re: Meta-commenting
"Frankly, I think it's interesting that the MBA assumption that the founder can't run a company is being proven a huge failure time (Apple)"

What? I'd have to disagree with your first example there.
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