News & Analysis
Comment
eewiz
Good for her. I dont expect anything drastic from Yahoo. They blew the chance to ...
KB3001
This looks like a sacrificial lamb before a trade sale to me....
Marissa Mayer named Yahoo CEO
Sylvie Barak
7/16/2012 5:58 PM EDT
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Marissa Mayer has been named CEO of Yahoo Inc. after 13 years at Google Inc., where she served as one of the top executives on the search company’s management team.
Employee number 20 and the first female hire at Google, Mayer, who joined the company age 24, rose rapidly through the ranks to become VP of search in October 2010.
Mayer holds both a B.S. in symbolic systems and an M.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University, having specialized in artificial intelligence for both. She also received an honorary doctorate from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2009 for her work in the field of search.
Taking the top job at Yahoo will be a true test of Mayer’s mettle, however. The flailing search engine has cycled through no less than seven CEOs since 1995 and has seen its stock drop 41 percent in the last year alone.
Plagued by scandals and bad business decisions, Yahoo’s most recent debacle included the resignation in May of four month CEO Scott Thompson, after questions arose over whether he had lied about his academic credentials.
Mayer will start as Yahoo CEO on Tuesday (July 17) and will also be joining Yahoo’s board.
Employee number 20 and the first female hire at Google, Mayer, who joined the company age 24, rose rapidly through the ranks to become VP of search in October 2010.
Mayer holds both a B.S. in symbolic systems and an M.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University, having specialized in artificial intelligence for both. She also received an honorary doctorate from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2009 for her work in the field of search.
Taking the top job at Yahoo will be a true test of Mayer’s mettle, however. The flailing search engine has cycled through no less than seven CEOs since 1995 and has seen its stock drop 41 percent in the last year alone.Plagued by scandals and bad business decisions, Yahoo’s most recent debacle included the resignation in May of four month CEO Scott Thompson, after questions arose over whether he had lied about his academic credentials.
Mayer will start as Yahoo CEO on Tuesday (July 17) and will also be joining Yahoo’s board.
|
|
|
|
|
Navigate to related information
memxprt
7/16/2012 7:39 PM EDT
1st Job 1999 as Software Engineer at Google.
12 years later, CEO of Yahoo!
Sign in to Reply
Tsantes
7/16/2012 9:09 PM EDT
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Sign in to Reply
Neo1
7/16/2012 10:33 PM EDT
Did Yahoo feel it needs Googles DNA to survive the crisis or does it think a fresh face will give it a much needed makeup?
If they can answer one question, they would know where they are and where they are going - "What does Yahoo stand for in the world of internet"
IMO Yahoo has turned out to be the Motorola of online business world.
Sign in to Reply
garydpdx
7/17/2012 10:01 AM EDT
Well, past executives and directors have put Yahoo into a corner so hiring Mayer is a massive pivot. If she succeeds, she will become the biggest tech hero since Steve Jobs. If not, then nothing to lose given the direction that Yahoo has been heading (or not!).
Sign in to Reply
SylvieBarak
7/17/2012 12:07 PM EDT
So many companies in the valley now have Google DNA that I feel the answer to your first question is yes. Former Google employees now run AOL (Tim Armstrong), Twitter (Dick Costolo), Facebook (Sheryl Sandberg), and Yahoo (Marissa Mayer).
Also, is it a good or bad thing in your book if Yahoo becomes the Motorola of the online business world?
Sign in to Reply
GREAT-Terry
7/16/2012 10:43 PM EDT
Hope Yahoo can come up with new and fresh idea so they won't be disappearing in coming years.
Sign in to Reply
chanj
7/16/2012 10:49 PM EDT
What a career! Transforming from a software engineer into a CEO is not a easy task. She has proven herself to be a leader. I am certainly looking forward to her plan to revive Yahoo.
Sign in to Reply
garydpdx
7/17/2012 10:02 AM EDT
Melissa Mayer seems to have enjoyed a wealth of experiences at Google that brought out and/or developed other skills. Let's hope that her good fortune is reflected on Yahoo!
Sign in to Reply
KB3001
7/20/2012 8:11 AM EDT
I am not sure she has PROVEN herself to be a leader :-) not yet anyway...
Sign in to Reply
sprite0022
7/17/2012 1:38 AM EDT
Yahoo's board is so naive, she is a good follower, icing for your cake, not the main dish can drive the change.
she is stupid enough to accept this position, well, 13 years's good luck blinded her. she is going to become another carly fiorina.
Sign in to Reply
amandeep.sandhu
7/17/2012 4:12 PM EDT
I would humbly disagree with you. Mayer had a significant role in driving Google Search and Gmail products.
She was passed up for an important position in 2011 and never got a title of an SVP. Moreover, she wasn't very publicly visible lately like other Google execs like Andy Rubin and Vic Gundotra.
The one thing she did not have at Google was power which Yahoo gave her. Now is the time for Mayer to prove herself all over again and re-invent Yahoo.
At least, I am rooting for her :-)
Sign in to Reply
sprite0022
7/17/2012 11:05 PM EDT
she definitely deserve some credit, but her problem is power as well.
Does she has the 'power' to turn a giant boat such as yahoo?
some smart trick won't help here.
Sign in to Reply
amandeep.sandhu
7/18/2012 6:36 PM EDT
Very true sprite0022!! There's a major difference between perceived power and real power ;)
Though I seldom use Yahoo for anything but I do have a soft spot for them as it was the first site on the web that I visited.
Sign in to Reply
sprite0022
7/18/2012 9:16 PM EDT
uh.. what I can suggest is she can practice killing a couple of chicken in her kitchen every week to improve her leadership skill.
Sign in to Reply
Saurabh_Shandilya
7/17/2012 2:33 AM EDT
Is it Google's strategy to acquire yahoo in future?
Sign in to Reply
SylvieBarak
7/17/2012 12:30 PM EDT
On another note... http://dearmarissamayer.com/
Sign in to Reply
selinz
7/17/2012 4:50 PM EDT
Alliances are key with Yahoo. They regained quite a bit of traction by alignning with AT&T.
That's really the main reason that I stuck with Yahoo. They need to have less annoying ad mouseovers on their splash screens. That would be welcomed.
Sign in to Reply
KB3001
7/20/2012 8:20 AM EDT
This looks like a sacrificial lamb before a trade sale to me....
Sign in to Reply
eewiz
7/23/2012 8:07 AM EDT
Good for her. I dont expect anything drastic from Yahoo. They blew the chance to acquire google and facebook back in its early days.
BTW Does any major semi/chip company have female CEO? The closest I can think of is Weili Dai of marvell. The top 25 doesnt seem to have female CEOs . Any comments on why?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_sales_leaders_by_year#Ranking_for_year_2011
Sign in to Reply