Valleywag
Terry Semel has stepped down as chairman of Yahoo and will leave the board of directors, more than six months after he left his post as CEO of the company. Board member Roy Bostock will assume his role as non-executive chairman. Don't think they let Terry leave without some lovely parting gifts though: Valleywag has learned that the entrance to Yahoo's Sunnyvale headquarters will be renamed Semel Drive "out of appreciation for everything he's done" for Yahoo. Sweet! That's the kind of golden parachute everyone can enjoy!
A tipster sent us the oddly e.e. cummings-esque internal email from Yahoo cofounder Jerry Yang announcing the departure:
several months ago, terry initiated discussions with the board of directors about stepping down from the chairman role once the board was able to identify a successor. since then, i have worked closely with terry and the board to ensure an orderly transition. today, we announced that terry will leave the board and roy bostock, who has been a member of the board since '03, will assume terry's role as non-executive chairman.i want to thank terry for his years of service and contributions to yahoo!. he's been a great partner and a true friend. out of appreciation for everything he's done for us, we're naming the entrance to our sunnyvale headquarters "semel drive." stay tuned for more info.
Comments
The fired Y!'s will be sent down Semel drive...
ironically, it's also the exit road from yahoo.
jerry yang is too busy to capitalize! let's turn this boat around! yahoo!
Hmmm... Is the goal to demotivate all Yahoos? They should add a landmark note: "Named after our former CEO who earned XXX gazillions for running the company into the ground. See ya suckers!"
I would like to see now long that sign stays up. I'll bet $100 it's either defaced or removed within a week.
Great, now would you please stop writing about Yahoo org chart shuffles forever?
3 more to go before we can claim a turn-around... Any guesses on the 3 I am referring to?
sick! i thought semel finally leaving the company would spell some morale boost for the employees. but semel drive? wtf? and they appointed bostock to be the chairman of the board who approved semel's pay package during yahoo slumping years? jerry yang, can you wake up already? can't you see what semel and his hollywood gang did to your company?
yang, have some guts, acknowlege hiring semel was a grave mistake, and remove semel's drive! that will at least tell wall street you're something.
Jesus, I have now officially given up on any chance of them turning this around. They have now insulted everyone still at Y who was clueful about what was going it. Seriously, that is a slap in the face. Filo, I know you are the quiet type but NOW is the time to speak up! Arrrgh!!
big news, guys! microsoft is buying yahoo! jerry yang, time to take down that despicable semel drive sign, and put up a gates drive sign!
i have much respect for jerry. but i think jerry can't lead yahoo if he doesn't acknowledge it was semel who drove the company to the ground. this "semel drive" is a serious blow to employees' already battered morale and it tells a lot how clueless jerry is.
so it turns out that the drive is a dead-end with a $581MM toll...
"Semel Dr.", otherwise known as, "Up the ol' dirt road."
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