http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71080.html
Yahoo picks PayPal president to be new CEO By: Eliza Krigman January 4, 2012 11:51 AM EST Yahoo announced Tuesday it has hired PayPal President Scott Thompson as its next CEO. Thompson takes over for Carol Bartz, who was fired by Yahoo in the fall amid frustrations over the one-time Internet pioneerâs continued struggles to compete with the likes of Facebook and Google. Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock said Thompson, who previously served as chief information officer of Barclays Global, has a track record âof building on a solid foundation of existing assets and resources to reignite innovation and drive growth, precisely the formula we need at Yahoo.â Tim Morse, who has been leading the company during the interim period, will resume his role as chief financial officer. Thompson starts Jan. 9. Yahoo has been losing ground in the fast-growing Internet advertising market for years. Mainly for this reason, its stock price has not topped $20 for the past three years. Yahoo's board has been reviewing a possible sale of all or part of the company since Bartz's ouster last fall. There are several potential suitors, including China's Alibaba Group, which may partner with private equity firms in a joint bid. Wednesday's announcement signals that Yahoo is not looking to sell the entire company. Bartz, too, was hired to help turn Yahoo around, but she had no experience in Internet advertising â Yahoo's main revenue source. This immediately raised doubts about her qualifications. Thompson, who was PayPal's chief technology officer before becoming president, is a technologist, with no skills in restructuring or media, said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis. "Payments and ads are not the same thing," he said. But the analyst added that Yahoo could have done worse, and Thompson has had "a good run" at PayPal, a division of eBay. "He's certainly going to have an opportunity to prove himself," he said, adding that it "remains to be seen how desirable this job was." "Whoever steps in this role is not going to have an easy time," Gillis said. Yahoo's stock fell 38 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $15.91 in morning trading following the announcement. The Associated Press contributed to this report. This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 11:33 a.m. on January 4, 2012. ï© ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:345088 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
