Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang to step down

　　美國互聯(lián)網(wǎng)巨頭雅虎公司的首席執(zhí)行官楊致遠１７日晚宣布，鑒于公司陷入困境，他將辭去首席執(zhí)行官職務。

　　Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang announced Monday that he is stepping down after a turbulent year and a half of running the Internet giant.

　　Yang, 40, told employees in a memo that he will continue as CEO until a replacement is found, then will go back to his old job as " Chief Yahoo." He will remain on the board.

　　Yang, who briefly served as CEO early in the company's history, returned to that job in June 2007 when Terry Semel resigned.

　　Analysts said Yang's resignation was due to growing anger among Yahoo investors who say Yang made a serious mistake by rejecting Microsoft's bid for 33 U.S.dollars a share to buy out Yahoo.

　　Yahoo's stock has slid in value since the rejection. It closed Monday at 10.63 dollars per share.

　　In addition, the company reported three quarters of declining sales and announced a 10-percent staff cut, of 1,500 employees, in October.

　　There was immediate speculation as to whether Yang's departure signals the possibility that a Microsoft deal may be revived. But Microsoft chairman, Steve Balmer, has said he is not interested in buying all of Yahoo.

　　Microsoft declined to comment on Monday's development.

　　Yahoo, which became an Internet powerhouse almost overnight after being founded in 1994, was created by David Filo and Yang, who as Stanford graduate students developed a new way of searching the Web.

　　The business grew rapidly and after a brief stint as CEO, Yang stepped aside to become "Chief Yahoo," an advocate for the company and a source of creative thinking.

　　In the past few years, however, Yahoo has stumbled and been overshadowed by new rival Google. But in fending off the Microsoft takeover attempt, it tried to forge a new search deal with Google. That deal fell apart earlier this month after the U.S Justice Department said it would file a lawsuit to stop the deal.

　　"I have always sought to do what is best for our franchise," Yang said in the statement.

　　"When the board asked me to become CEO and lead the transformation of the company, I did so because it was important to re-envision the business for a different era to drive more effective growth. Having set Yahoo! on a new, more open path, the time is right for me to transition the CEO role and our global talent to a new leader."

　　Yang said he would continue to focus on global strategy and do everything he could to help Yahoo! " to realize its full potential and enhance its leading culture of technology and product excellence and innovation".

　　美國互聯(lián)網(wǎng)巨頭雅虎公司的首席執(zhí)行官楊致遠１７日晚宣布，鑒于公司陷入困境，他將辭去首席執(zhí)行官職務。

　　楊致遠在致員工的一份聲明中說，他自去年擔任雅虎首席執(zhí)行官以來，公司歷經(jīng)坎坷，因此他決定辭去公司首席執(zhí)行官的職務，但他近期內仍將留在現(xiàn)在的位置上，直到
　　公司找到合適的繼任者。他還表示，辭職后他將繼續(xù)留在雅虎董事會。

　　業(yè)內人士稱，楊致遠的辭職與雅虎最近遭遇的兩次打擊有關：一是拒絕微軟公司的收購方案；二是與網(wǎng)絡搜索巨頭谷歌公司的合作受挫。

　　為打破谷歌在網(wǎng)絡廣告領域一家獨大的局面，微軟今年初曾提出以每股３１美元、總價４４６億美元收購雅虎，后來又提出將收購價格提高至每股３３美元、總價為４７５億美元，但均遭到雅虎拒絕。雅虎的股東對雅虎此舉深表不滿，認為雅虎錯過了出售的好時機。在１７日的紐約股票市場上，雅虎的股票已跌至每股１０．６３美元。

　　為了扭轉被動局面，雅虎曾尋求與谷歌在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)搜索廣告方面進行合作，但雅虎與谷歌的合作卻遭到了美司法部和廣告商等的強烈反對，原因是雙方聯(lián)手會導致谷歌對互聯(lián)網(wǎng)廣告市場的壟斷。本月初，谷歌宣布退出與雅虎的合作計劃，以避免引起“長期的法律糾紛”。

　　此外，雅虎連續(xù)３個季度銷售額下降。今年１０月，公司還宣布裁員１０％，達１５００人。鑒于此，雅虎內部要求楊致遠“下課”的呼聲日益高漲。