Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang Decides to Step Down

Right after Jerry Yang’s Interview at the Web 2.0 Summit, the whole blogosphere was demanding Jerry to step down from his CEO position… and now it looks like he has finally taken the initiative to search for a new CEO to replace him as he plans to step down and go back to his former role as Chief Yahoo!

The official press releases from Yahoo says:

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO) today announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a search for a new Chief Executive Officer. Jerry Yang, co-Founder of Yahoo!, has decided to return to his former role as Chief Yahoo! upon the appointment of his successor as CEO, and he will also continue to serve on the Board. Yang, 40, assumed the CEO role at the Board’s request in June 2007, and he has led Yahoo! through a strategic repositioning and transformation of its platform. Chairman Roy Bostock, working with the independent directors and in consultation with Jerry Yang, is leading the process of assessing potential candidates and determining finalists for consideration. The search will encompass both internal and external candidates, and the Board has retained Heidrick & Struggles, a leading international executive search firm, to assist in the process.

Jerry also wrote a personal memo to all yahoo employees (which was obtained by BoomTown).

Quoting from the Memo:

we have created a more open, competitive yahoo! and we believe the time is now right to transition to a new ceo who can take the company to the next level. Despite the external environment we face, the fact remains that yahoo! is now a significantly different company that is stronger in many ways than it was just 18 months ago.

Did he just say “Stronger”? I think the company is now seeing it worst days! Don’t you think so?