Yahoo Denies Jerry Yang Resignation Rumors

Silicon Alley Insider's Henry Blodget is reported a rumor that Jerry Yang, CEO of Yahoo!, may resign today -- and soon afterward reporting that Yahoo "emphatically denied" the rumor.

EARLIER: A hedge fund source says a rumor is going around that Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Jerry Yang plans to resign. This wouldn't surprise us, especially after a disastrous meeting with major shareholder Gordy Crawford earlier this week. We also think this would be a smart move for Jerry and the company.

As we've said, we think Jerry should step back into Chairman/Founder/Board role and hire an experienced operator to pound Yahoo into shape. And far better to do this voluntarily and smoothly than to get decapitated at the shareholder meeting.

It seemed odd to think that he'd resign in the midst of a heated battle with Carl Icahn -- which seems to have gotten a bit personal lately, and bigger, with Microsoft backing Icahn -- but as Blodget suggests, such a move could have been characterized as strategic. More than a few people (not counting Icahn) publicly think it's time for Jerry Yang to quit at least the battle with Microsoft and Icahn.

Comments

[BigSid]

RIGHT OR WRONG

Yang is on his way out!

[dadw5boys]

ICAHN NEEDS TO GO!!!!!!

LEAVE YAHOO ALONE YOU GREEDY OLD BASTARD!!!!!

[philomot]

One question: How many will stay at Yahoo when it is owned by Microsoft? Microsoft killede Yahoo effectively and Icahn is a moron if he thinks he can still make any money. Yang is on the right track, keep fighting!

[kassandrasduplex]

Yahoo has been the target of a hostile takeover for some time. I particularly was upset when that WSJ guy came over and took down Yahoo's message boards. Those message boards were a fantastic source of unedited information from a very democratic public.

[Peddler]

If that is a picture of Jerry Yang, it truly resembles an individual with Dowe's Syndrome.

[easyrider1969]

Don't let the door hit you in the a#& on the way out.

[MaracaKabob]

I have a Yahoo store, where I sell things that I make. Yesterday I found out that Yahoo is raising the price from $50 to $100. Just like that. No additional services are being added, and no improvements have been made. They simply want me to pay them double because they need the money.
So I'm shutting down my Yahoo Store and setting it all up with Pay Pal. I will never do business with Yahoo again, and if they crash and burn it's because I got mad and pulled the plug.

[MrMephistoX]

Honestly Huffpo, posting rumors that very well could have been seeded by Microsoft is hardly the stuff credible journalism is made of. It's pretty reprehensible on M$'s part to try to meddle in the company's internal affairs by suggesting they'd be open to negotiation is Carl Ichan gets his way.

Employees will be collateral damage if this goes through.

[pinesol]

When a company loses its principle, there's nothing it can do to stay afloat. Yahoo! violated people's trust when it collaborated with the Chinese government to oppress civil liberty. Yahoo! and other telecom scumbags must learn their lessons the hard way!

[meanguy]

amen, pinesol

[Argente]

Watch 'em ship the job offshore.

[pinesol]

The communist Chinese have already "owned" Yahoo!

[Sundialsvc4]

It wouldn't be a bad thing. Jerry, take your frippin' money and run.

Here's why: Yahoo is well-named. In the world of high-tech companies, it's a yahoo. Study its actual revenue-earning business and frankly there's not much there.

It just might be far better to resign the post, to start a new company or to join a board where your experience would be well-received, and to let whoever-wa­nts-to-buy Yahoo go down with the ship.

It's not that Yahoo was bad, Jerry. Really, it's not. But the times, they are a'changin', and at the end of every "shallow but successful" venture there does come a time to get off. Yahoo IS shallow-rooted. It's never going to become a deep, healthy tree. These guys probably know that: one way or the other, they want to get their money out.

Take a graceful exit, stage right, to suitably polite applause. Sell your options systematically, join someone else's board. You have nothing to be ashamed of, and it's not a reflection on you. This is a shallow-rooted tree.

[nastyvirus]

I agree. Yang can make another success, until jealous Icahn tries to pry it from him.

[coldcanuckinwhite]

Agree with you whole-heartedly, BhunduBoy!
Where are all the other geniuses?

[BhunduBoy]

Yahoo! is history. M$ destructive monopoly has destroyed yet another great company. Only GNU/linux can save the PC industry and the Internet.

[IbnHuff]

Dont be daft. I really think this could be a powerful line up. MS with its desktop reach, and Yahoo with its internet arm could be the rival google don't want