Yahoo has picked Google’s Marissa Mayer to become its new CEO, turning to an engineer with established Silicon Valley credentials to rescue the struggling former internet powerhouse.
Ms Mayer, 37, edged out front-runner and acting CEO Ross Levinsohn to become Yahoo’s third CEO in a year. She hopes to stem losses to Google and Facebook — which her high-profile predecessors failed to do.
Her hiring signals the internet company is likely to renew its focus on web technology and products rather than beefing up online content.
Also known for her love of fashion and a regular on the society pages, she joins the extremely thin ranks of female Silicon Valley CEOs and told Reuters that she was immediately interested when Yahoo’s board reached out to her in mid-June.
“This is a very competitive and a tough space. I don’t think that success is by any means guaranteed,” she said. “My focus is always end-users, great technology and terrific talent.”
Shares of Yahoo, worth less than half their value during its dotcom heyday, gained 2 percent to $15.97 in after-hours trading.
“It’s a statement on Yahoo’s part to go with a product-centric CEO choice. It’s a very big commitment on the board’s part to pursue a product-centric strategy,” venture capitalist Marc Andreessen told the Fortune industry conference in Aspen, Colorado.
Tech companies can be turned around, he said, citing as an example Apple Inc, which had teetered on the brink of bankruptcy before Steve Jobs returned to the company he co-founded. “It’s a big job that Marissa is stepping into,” Andreessen said.
Mayer will start on Tuesday, when the company is scheduled to report its quarterly financial results, but she will not join the post-release conference call.
