Yang Steps Down as Yahoo C.E.O.

After stepping into the top job after C.E.O. Terry Semel was tossed overboard by shareholders; after merger talks with Microsoft went everywhere and nowhere and included interjections by Carl Icahn; and after Yahoo stock plummeted further and further, beyond levels reflecting only the downward-spiraling economy -- now, Yahoo founder Jerry Yang has stepped down as C.E.O.

In a memo sent to Yahoo staff today, Yang wrote:

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.

Noting his ascension to the post 18 months ago, Yang reflected on where the company is now:

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.

It's an ironic message. Had Yahoo merged with Microsoft when Steve Ballmer was offering $33 a share, mission-critical decisions could have been averted; so could a search for "the right ceo."

The new C.E.O. will indeed have a sturdy group of products to further exploit such as Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Finance, Flickr, Yahoo News, and several other franchises that make the site a behemoth on the Web.

But whoever takes the job will have to turn around the ship Yang drove in the wrong direction, away from a rescue merger and toward angry shareholders.

Then again, gee, it's a good time to be hiring.