Yahoo! CEO to Step Down

SUNNYVALE, November 18:
Yahoo! has embarked on the search for a new CEO, with Jerry Yang set to step
down as soon as a successor is named.

The announcement by the
Internet search giant yesterday sent its share price up by about 13 percent,
reports indicate, with some investors hopeful that Yang's departure will open
the door to renewed merger discussions with Microsoft. The PC behemoth had
actively courted Yahoo! this year but Yang rejected the proposals, maintaining
that Microsoft was undervaluing the company.

Yang, the cofounder of
Yahoo!, filled the CEO role in June 2007 following the resignation of
then-chief Terry Semel. After a new CEO is found, Yang will return to his role
as "Chief Yahoo," overseeing corporate strategy and technology, and
as a Board Member.

The company's chairman,
Roy Bostock, working with the independent directors and in consultation with
Yang, is leading the process of assessing potential candidates and determining
finalists for consideration. Heidrick & Struggles, a leading international
executive search firm, has been retained to assist in the process.

"Over the past year
and a half, despite extraordinary challenges and distractions, Jerry Yang has
led the repositioning of Yahoo! on an open platform model as well as the
improved alignment of costs and revenues," said Bostock. "Jerry and
the Board have had an ongoing dialogue about succession timing, and we all
agree that now is the right time to make the transition to a new CEO who can take
the company to the next level. We are deeply grateful to Jerry for his many
contributions as CEO over the past 18 months, and we are pleased that he plans
to stay actively involved at Yahoo! as a key executive and member of the
Board."

"From founding this
company to guiding its growth into a trusted global brand that is indispensable
to millions of people, I have always sought to do what is best for our
franchise," said Yang. "When the Board asked me to become CEO and
lead the transformation of the company, I did so because it was important to
re-envision the business for a different era to drive more effective growth.
Having set Yahoo! on a new, more open path, the time is right for me to
transition the CEO role and our global talent to a new leader. I will continue
to focus on global strategy and to do everything I can to help Yahoo! realize
its full potential and enhance its leading culture of technology and product
excellence and innovation."

—By Mansha Daswani