Chairman, 3 others out in Yahoo board shake-up

SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and three longtime board members are stepping down, submitting to the demands of many frustrated shareholders who blame them for not fixing the problems dragging down the Internet company's revenue and stock price.

The shake-up announced Tuesday continues a drastic makeover of Yahoo's leadership during the past month as the company negotiates to sell its Asian assets in a complex deal that could help ignite a long-promised turnaround.

After Yahoo hired former PayPal executive Scott Thompson as its CEO a few days into the new year, co-founder Jerry Yang resigned from the board and severed all other ties with the company, which he helped start in 1995.

Now Bostock is departing after four years as chairman. Many shareholders still blame him and Yang for squandering an opportunity to sell Yahoo to Microsoft Corp. in May 2008 for $47.5 billion, or $33 per share. Yahoo's stock hasn't traded above $20 in nearly 3 1/2 years. The shares closed Tuesday at $15.82, up by a penny.

In extended trading after the announcement, the stock fell 4 cents to $15.79.

In a move that will give Thompson an even cleaner slate as he tries to come up with a new strategy, Yahoo board members Vyomesh Joshi, Arthur Kern and Gary Wilson also agreed not to seek re-election at Yahoo's shareholders meeting this June.

Kern, a former radio station owner, has been on Yahoo's board for more than 15 years. Wilson, a former airline executive, has been a director since 2001, and Joshi, a Hewlett-Packard Co. executive, has been a director since 2005.

With the housecleaning, Yahoo will be left with seven directors, all of whom have joined the board since the end of 2009. That list includes the two latest directors appointed Tuesday: Alfred Amoroso, former CEO of TV listings provider Rovi Corp., and Maynard Webb Jr., a former eBay Inc. executive who most recently was CEO of LiveOps Inc., which helps to staff customer call centers.

Yahoo, which is based in Sunnyvale, California, said it is conducting a search for additional directors.

Bringing in new directors to work with Thompson will "provide Yahoo with the expertise and perspectives necessary to drive innovation and growth," Bostock wrote in a letter Tuesday announcing his plans.