Braun Exits in Yahoo! Restructure

SUNNYVALE, December 6: Former ABC chairman Lloyd Braun, who
joined Yahoo! in 2004 to head up its media and entertainment group, is leaving
the company as part of a wide-scale restructuring, along with COO Daniel
Rosensweig.

Braun joined the Internet portal with grand plans to bring
television-style programming to the Web. After clashing with senior executives,
however, Braun scaled back his content strategy, shifting away from original
programming and towards external acquisitions.

Yahoo! will now be organized into three operating units: one
focusing on audiences, one on advertisers and publishers, and one on
technology. "There is no question, our new structure will increase
accountability, will reduce bottlenecks and speed decision-making," Terry
Semel, Yahoo's chairman and CEO, is quoted as saying.

A search is under way for an executive to head up the
Audience Group. The Advertiser & Publisher Group will be headed by Susan
Decker, who has served as CFO since 2000. In her new role, taking over Yahoo!’s
most important business, Decker is seen as a likely successor to Semel. The
Technology Group will be led by Yahoo!’s chief technology officer, Farzad
Nazem.

In a statement, Semel noted, “Our strategy capitalizes on
big emerging trends and leverages our core strengths in search, media,
communities and communications. We believe having a more customer-focused
organization, supported by robust technology, will speed the development of
leading-edge experiences for our most valuable audience segments. In turn, we
plan to drive growth and profitability by leveraging our deep audience insights
to create a full-fledged advertising network, with a marketplace that meets
supply and demand both on Yahoo!'s valuable owned-and-operated network and
across the entire Internet."