So ... Was CEO Terry Semel really so bad that he had to resign?
In a word, yes.
In my opinion, Terry Semel needed to be shown the door long ago and should have made a quiet, respectful and pride-saving exit from Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). I'm not happy with the way his resignation is now being handled either. He should be moving down the road to new and exciting endeavors, leaving Yahoo! to formulate its own new plans. Instead, he has gingerly stayed in his chairman role, in a non-executive role, hanging around like the brother-in-law who just wrecked your car and says he'll help you fix it.
Don't take my word for it, though. A flood of commentary from all across the web includes such things as:
"...it's safe to say, (the share holders) are not happy at all with the current performance and are sending a message loud and clear, Terry Semel's got to turn things around" - RSS Micro
"Terry Semel should've gotten the boot at the get go. Yahoo! is one part golden child one part failed potential." -webpodge
"this move away from the leader that distracted them ... signals a determination to get something accomplished before things get worse." -Webomatica
The general feeling around the blogs seems to be that the shareholders initiated Semel's resignation by some manner of force. While it is true that the company has taken notice of shareholders' dissatisfaction, simply by virtue of the fact that Semel's still hanging around, this resignation smacks of a shuffling of wigs more than a changing of the guard. Time will tell (in a year or three) if Jerry Yang is really the source of solutions or just a Semel-backed talking head. If Yang was the wrong choice, by the time the proof is in that pudding, it's going to be too late.
If it had been my decision to make, and how I wish it had been, Susan Decker would have been given the helm. She has the talent, the brains and the wisdom for the job. I believe she could give the company some great new direction. Instead of Yahoo! shareholders getting a new lease on life today, they were handed one big open can of ... let's wait and see ...
So let's wait and see.
Other BloggingStocks coverage:
Brian White: Even with Semel out, Yahoo! still can't catch Google
Georges Yared: Google is the reason Terry Semel just couldn't win
Peter Cohan: What took so long -- and, with YHOO up sharply since announcement, will Jerry Yang sell?
Melly Alazraki: Webcast uninspiring; I was hoping for new talent from the outside.
Julie Tilsner: Yahoo! disorganized; I'm glad I didn't end up as a Yahoo!
Jonathan Berr: Yahoo! needs fixing; it should avoid bidding for Dow Jones. And will Susan Decker now quit?
May 3, 2007: $40 million in 2006 too much for Semel
December 2007: Yahoo! reorganization annoints Decker; you call this a reorganization? Terry Semel should be fired.
Twitter finally reveals revenue ambition, wants to be Google -- but not yet
Google says: Chrome for Christmas
Why is gold marching higher? Ask the central bankers
