Yahoo! set for shake-up as executives leave in droves

by Darren Davidson Brand Republic 27-Jun-08, 11:00

LONDON - Yahoo! has unveiled a significant reorganisation in the wake of Microsoft's failed bid and and an exodus of top-level executives.

The ailing internet firm said it was centralising consumer product development in a new division, creating a US region and forming an "insights strategy team". The three new divisions will report to Sue Decker, Yahoo!'s president.

Yahoo! has suffered from a sharply falling share price and seemingly never-ending series of senior departures ever since Microsoft abandoned its $47.5bn bid for the company on May 3.

The departures include Jeff Weiner, head of its network division, Vish Makhijani, general manager of its search business, and Qi Lu, leading engineer for its Panama search marketing platform.

Others include Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake, founders of the photo-sharing service Flickr, and Joshua Schachter, founder of social bookmarking tool, Delicious.

Brad Garlinghouse, a senior vice-president, who famously wrote the 2006 "peanut-butter manifesto" which accused Yahoo! of lacking focus, has also left.

Jerry Yang, the embattled chief executive of Yahoo!, said the reorganisation would "accelerate the ability of our deep and talented team to build great products, grow our audiences and improve monetisation globally.

"They are designed to put us in an even better position to leverage our leading global audience and capture the opportunity we see in the convergence of search and display advertising."

Yang has come under intense pressure from Carl Icahn, the activist investor who is urging Yahoo! to allow Microsoft to buy the company.

Icahn has repeatedly attacked Yang and the board and is currently urging shareholders to vote for the alternative slate of directors he has nominated to replace the board at its annual meeting on August 1.