San Francisco – Yahoo chairman Terry Semel ended his six-year tenure as chief executive today and will hand over the reins to co-founder Jerry Yang in the Internet icon’s latest attempt to regain investor confidence.
Semel, 64, will remain chairman in a non-executive role.
Besides naming Yang as its new CEO, Yahoo appointed Susan Decker as president. Decker, who recently was promoted to oversee Yahoo’s advertising operations, had widely been seen as Semel’s heir apparent.
The Sunnyvale-based company announced the shake-up less than a week after Semel faced off with shareholders disillusioned with Yahoo’s lackluster performance during the past 18 months – a malaise that wasn’t reflected in Semel’s compensation.
Despite Yahoo’s struggles, Semel received a package valued at $71.7 million last year. That was more than any other CEO among 386 publicly held companies covered in an AP analysis of executive compensation using new SEC disclosure rules.
Semel assured shareholders attending Yahoo’s annual meeting last week that he had the fortitude to lead a comeback. He has been counting on recent improvements to Yahoo’s online-advertising system and a series of key partnerships to boost profits after the company suffered an 11 percent drop in its first-quarter earnings.
But in a statement today, Semel said he had already told the board that he wanted to step away “sooner rather than later.”
“This is the time for new executive leadership, with different skills and strengths, to step in and drive the company to realize its full potential,” he said.
Yahoo shares gained 81 cents to finish at $28.12 today, then surged $1.11, or nearly 4 percent, in the extended session.
The company’s stock price has plunged by nearly 30 percent since the end of 2005.
