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Yahoo!: Scott Thompson
is Chief Executive Officer - Tim Morse is Chief Financial Officer January 4, 2012
Yahoo!
has appointed Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer, effective
January 9, 2012, at which time Tim Morse will resume his role as Chief
Financial Officer. Thompson has also been appointed to the Company’s
Board of Directors, effective January 9, 2012.
Thompson served most recently as President of PayPal, a division of
eBay, where he continued his established track record of growing
businesses by driving customer engagement built on strong technology
platforms. Under his leadership, PayPal solidified its lead as the
global online payment service, expanding its user base from 50 million
to more than 104 million active users in 190 countries worldwide,
increasing the number of merchant partners to more than 8 million
globally, and growing revenues from $1.8 billion to $4+ billion in 2011.
“Scott brings to Yahoo! a proven record of building on a solid
foundation of existing assets and resources to reignite innovation and
drive growth, precisely the formula we need at Yahoo!,” said Roy Bostock,
Chairman of the Yahoo! Board. “His deep understanding of online
businesses combined with his team building and operational capabilities
will restore the energy, focus, and momentum necessary to grow the core
business and deliver increased value for our shareholders. The search
committee and the entire Board concluded that he is the right leader to
return the core business to a path of robust growth and industry-leading
innovation.”
“Yahoo! is an industry icon and I am very excited about the prospect of
working with one of the great teams in the online world to deliver
Yahoo!’s next era of success,” Mr. Thompson said. “Yahoo! has a rich
history and a solid foundation to build on, and its continued user
engagement is one of the many reasons for my enthusiasm. With the
ultimate goal of delivering the value our shareholders expect, my
immediate focus will be on getting to know the entire team and hearing
more from all Yahoo!s, working closely with the engineers and product
teams, and diving deeply into our products and services to learn more
about what our more than 700 million users find most engaging and
useful. I will also be working directly with our region leaders and
sales teams globally to get a clearer understanding of the needs of our
advertisers and publishers. Clearly, speed is important but we will
attack both the opportunity ahead and the competitive challenges with an
appropriate balance of urgency and thoughtfulness. I cannot wait to get
started.”
“Scott’s
primary focus will be on the core business, and as CEO and director, he
will work closely with the Board as we continue the strategic review
process to identify the best approaches for the Company and its
shareholders. As part of this process, Yahoo! is considering a wide
range of opportunities for the Company’s business, as well as specific
investments or dispositions of assets,” added Bostock.
“We are all grateful to Tim Morse for leading the company with a steady
hand during the last several months. His deep understanding of the
Company and his positive approach kept the company on course and we will
continue to benefit from his exceptional capabilities as he returns to
his Chief Financial Officer role,” Bostock concluded.
Scott Thompson Biographical Information
Scott Thompson has a record of deep industry experience, having most
recently served as President of PayPal with overall responsibility for
establishing that company as the leading global online payment service.
He previously served as PayPal's Senior Vice President and Chief
Technology Officer. Prior to PayPal, Mr. Thompson was Executive Vice
President of technology solutions at Inovant, a subsidiary of Visa
formed to oversee global technology for the organization. Thompson was
also Chief Information Officer of Barclays Global Investors, where he
implemented a new strategic technology platform and global
infrastructure. In addition, he worked with Coopers and Lybrand,
delivering information technology solutions to leading financial
services clients. |