Yahoo! chief executive quits

Yahoo! chief executive Terry Semel has quit the internet giant after facing criticism of the company’s failure to match Google’s performance online. Semel says he will take a “step back” into the role of non-executive chairman.

Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang will take over Semel’s role and responsibilities, while Sue Decker, chief of advertising and publishing and formerly chief financial officer, has been appointed as president of the internet service provider.

Yahoo! has suffered criticism in both in the US and Europe for failing to make up ground lost to rival Google. Last week Semel was forced to defend himself at the company’s Annual General Meeting after shareholders called for him to stand down. It followed suggestions at the meeting that the company might fare better without him and calls for an apology for Yahoo!’s poor performance and low
morale.

In the UK the company reported 11% in profits to $142m (£70.72m) for the quarter ending 31 March.