Yahoo Inc. has named Scott Thompson, president of eBay Inc.’s PayPal division, as its new CEO, the fourth one in less than five years for the struggling Internet company.
Yahoo, which announced its choice Wednesday, has been without a permanent CEO since early September. It fired Carol Bartz after losing patience with her attempts to turn around the company during her 2 ½ years on the job. Tim Morse, Yahoo’s chief financial officer, has been interim CEO since Bartz’s ouster.
Thompson has served as president of PayPal, eBay’s online payment service, since January 2008. He previously served as PayPal’s senior vice president and chief technology officer.
Yahoo said Thompson’s new job starts on Jan. 9. Morse will return to his CFO post.
Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock said Thompson’s track record of building on existing resources “to reignite innovation and drive growth” is “precisely the formula we need at Yahoo.”
It will be a big task. Yahoo, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., has been losing ground in the fast-growing Internet advertising market to Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. for years. Mainly for this reason, its stock price has not topped $20 for the past three years.
Yahoo’s board has been reviewing a possible sale of all or part of the company since Bartz’s ouster last fall. There are several potential suitors, including China’s Alibaba Group, which may partner with private equity firms in a joint bid. Wednesday’s announcement signals that Yahoo is not looking to sell the entire company.
Bartz, too, was hired to help turn Yahoo around but she had no experience in Internet advertising — Yahoo’s main revenue source. This immediately raised doubts about her qualifications.
Thompson, who was PayPal’s chief technology officer before becoming president, is a technologist, with no skills in restructuring or media, said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.
“Payments and ads are not the same thing,” he said.
But the analyst added that Yahoo could have done worse, and Thompson has had “a good run” at PayPal.
“He’s certainly going to have an opportunity to prove himself,” he said, adding that it “remains to be seen how desirable this job was.
“Whoever steps in this role is not going to have an easy time,” Gillis said.
Yahoo’s stock fell 38 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $15.91 in morning trading following the announcement.
Shares of eBay, meanwhile, dropped $1.21, or 3.9 percent, to $30.13. Gillis, though, said Thompson’s departure won’t hurt eBay.
“PayPal is much bigger than any one individual,” he said. “Some new blood may even help reinvigorate it.”
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More