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Yang's Departure Gives Microsoft New Opening

Analysts see 'beginning of the end for Yahoo' as CEO steps down

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 18, 2008 9:54 AM CST

(Newser) – Investors are hoping Jerry Yang’s departure will lead to renewed talks with Microsoft, BusinessWeek reports. “This is probably the beginning of the end for Yahoo,” said one. “Microsoft will probably come back with an offer.” Microsoft has repeatedly denied interest in reviving a deal, but Yang’s departure “clears the path,” one analyst said. “Yahoo can free up its strategic alternatives.”

Investors have been calling for Yang’s head for some time. Though one source says the move wasn’t precipitated by a particular event, it comes less than two weeks after Google backed out of a search advertising agreement to shore up Yahoo’s finances. “The Google deal was probably the last straw,” said one industry insider. “I don’t know how the board could have avoided it.”

[Images (3)]

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Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang ponders a question during a talk at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. (AP Photo)

In this Nov. 5, 2008 file photo, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang listens to a question at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

The departure of CEO Jerry Yang from Yahoo could give Microsoft and CEO Steve Ballmer another shot at acquiring or partnering with the portal. (AP Photo)

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The Google deal was probably the last straw. I don’t know how the board could have avoided it. The investment community has very little confidence in the company’s turnaround plan. - Ted West, CEO of
search ad network LookSmart

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Yang's Departure Gives Microsoft New Opening