a letter from jerry yang

a leader i admire for his humbleness, passion and purple

below is an internal memo he sent out to all yahoos (note: no capital letter)

To: all yahoos
Fr: Jerry
Subject: update

yahoos -

i wanted to address all of you on the news we've just announced. the
board of directors and I have agreed to initiate a succession process
for the ceo role of yahoo!. roy bostock, our chairman of the board, is
leading the effort to identify and assess potential candidates for
consideration by the full board. the board will be evaluating and
considering both internal and external candidates and has retained
heidrick and struggles to help in this effort.

i will be participating in the search for my successor, and i will
continue as ceo until the board selects a new ceo. once a successor is
named, i will return to my previous role as chief yahoo and continue
to serve as a director on the board.

last june, i accepted the board's request that i assume the ceo role
to restructure and reposition the company as a whole in order to more
effectively meet the fast-changing needs of both users and partners.
since taking on the ceo role, i have had an ongoing dialogue with the
board about succession timing. thanks in large measure to your
tireless efforts, we have created a more open, competitive yahoo! and
we believe the time is now right to transition to a new ceo who can
take the company to the next level.

despite the external environment we face, the fact remains that yahoo!
is now a significantly different company that is stronger in many ways
than it was just 18 months ago. this only makes it all the more
essential that we manage this opportunity to leverage the progress up
to this point as effectively as possible. i strongly believe that
having transformed our platform and better aligned costs and revenues,
we have a unique window for the right ceo to take ownership over the
next wave of mission-critical decisions facing the company.

all of you know that I have always, and will always bleed purple. i
will always do what I think is right for this great company. while
this step will be an adjustment for all of us, i know it's the right
one. i look forward to updating you on this process as soon as the
board has developments to share, and will continue to do everything i
can to make yahoo! fulfill its full potential.

thank you,
jerry