Yahoo's Co-founder Jerry Yang Resigns

Jan 17, 2012 at 5:17pm ET by Barry Schwartz

Yahoo announced its co-founder Jerry Yang has formally resigned after 17 years on the job.

Yang co-founded the company in March 1995, and has been on the Board of Directors since. 17 years later, he has officially stepped down from its Board of Directors and all other positions with the company. And he has done so effective immediately. In addition, he stepped down from the Boards of Yahoo Japan Corporation and Alibaba Group Holding Limited.

This news comes only a couple weeks after Yahoo announced their new CEO Scott Thompson.

“I am grateful for the warm welcome and support Jerry provided me during my early days here,” said Scott Thompson, Yahoo!’s Chief Executive Officer. “Jerry leaves behind a legacy of innovation and customer focus for this iconic brand, having shaped our culture by fostering a spirit of innovation that began 17 years ago and continues to grow even stronger today. Jerry has great confidence in the future of Yahoo!, and I share his confidence in the enormous potential of Yahoo! in the days ahead.”

As for why Yang is leaving? He told the Yahoo board:

My time at Yahoo!, from its founding to the present, has encompassed some of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life. However, the time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo! As I leave the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago, I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future.

Yang replaced Terry Semel as CEO back in 2007. Then a year later, in 2008, Yang stepped down as CEO, leading to Carol Bartz becoming the new CEO in 2009. Now, in 2011, Bartz was ousted and eventually replaced with Scott Thompson a couple weeks ago. Now we learn that Yang resigned completely from Yahoo.

To read the full release, see Yahoo’s investor site. Also see a special recollection of Yang’s early days helping marketers, in this story on our sister-site Marketing Land: As Jerry Yang Steps Down, Remembering The Yahoo Priority Queue.

About The Author: Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here. For more background information on Barry, see his full bio over here. See more articles by Barry Schwartz

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