Google executive Marissa Mayer named Yahoo’s new chief executive
Yahoo has named Marissa Mayer, a longtime Google executive, as its new CEO.
The beleaguered search giant announced that it had appointed Mayer president, CEO and a board member effective Tuesday. She becomes the company’s fifth chief executive in as many years.
“The appointment of Ms. Mayer, a leading consumer Internet executive, signals a renewed focus on product innovation to drive user experience and advertising revenue,” Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo said in a statement.
Mayer, 37, was most recently responsible for Local, Maps and Location Services at Google, overseeing products such as Google Maps, Google Earth, Street View and Zagat for desktop and mobile. She joined Google in 1999 as its 20th employee. She helped launch more than 100 features and products including image, book and product search, toolbar, iGoogle, Google News, and Gmail.
She was Google’s first female engineer, according to Business Insider, who said she quit her job at Google on Monday.
The announcement came as a surprise: Yahoo interim CEO Ross Levinsohn, a media veteran, was widely expected to be named the permanent chief executive.
Fred Amoroso, chairman of Yahoo’s board, said the directors “unanimously agreed that Marissa’s unparalleled track record in technology, design and product execution makes her the right leader for Yahoo.”
Mayer said in a statement that she looked forward to working with the company’s employees to “bring dedicated products, content and personalized experiences to users and advertisers all around the world.”
Mayer replaces former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson, who resigned in May over a resume flap.
Yahoo made the CEO announcement after the markets closed. During regular trading, shares fell 9 cents to $15.65. In after-hours trading, they were up more than 2%.
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