Yahoo! was started in 1994 by Jerry Yang and David Filo and founded on March 1st, 1995. Since that time Yahoo! has grown to include properties like Flickr, Geocities, MusicMatch, and even Associated Content. Despite these properties, Yahoo!, has by some perspectives, languished in utilizing its properties to maximize profits.
Yang was on Yahoo's Board of Directors from it's founding in 1995. Yang also served as CEO from June 2007 until January 13th, 2009 when Carol Bartz was appointed CEO. Yang leaving the CEO position, at this time, was not a big surprise since he announced on November 17th, 2008 that he would step down. At the time he was named ‘Chief Yahoo' and remained on Yahoo's Board of Directors.
It was announced today, January 17th, 2012 that Jerry Yang had resigned from the Board of Directors as well as any positions within the company. Along with resigning from Yahoo!, Yang also resigned from the boards of Alibaba and Yahoo! Japan.
According to sources from AllThingsD, four more Yahoo! Board members will also be resigning, including the Current Chairman of the Board Roy Bostock.
The resignation of Yang does mark a significant end to an era of the Internet. Yang has been a presence at Yahoo! for the last 17 years. Some have stated that it time for a major shake up after the failed buyout by Microsoft in 2008 as the general indirection of Yahoo! as a whole. Only time will tell if this was a good strategy or not.
Source is Yahoo's Press Release and AllThingsD.
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