Well, surprise, ValleyWag doesn't have the facts straight... but I am leaving Yahoo! So at least that part is correct. Perhaps next week it will be more clear. ;)

And at least they used my good photo. How about that hair!

Valleywag -- you suck. I wish people would stop sending me links to this rag piece of shit.

Get your facts straight.

Jeff wasn't fired. The guy was one of the only rock stars at Yahoo!

Like a lot of other people he had better opportunities knocking and timed it right.

You could easily have contacted him directly to find out the real story.

This website blows. It used to be quite fun to read about the other side of silicon valley. These days all you seem to report is junk about how many people get laid and take drugs in the valley (riiiiight - have you been out in any of the valley towns on a saturday night? there is more action in uzbekistan) and untruths about people. Erasing this site from my RSS reader, bookmarks and memory now...

...ok i am so pissed off I came back. Only to say that Bonforte is the most intelligent and creative person I have ever worked with and it is 100% fact that HE WAS NOT FIRED. Yes, he left Yahoo! but if you actually verified your sources you would find out that it was under very different circumstances. Owen Thomas, you are a doooooosh. Over and Out.

I'd like to point out that Jeff is still showing up on Backyard so if he's leaving the company, he hasn't left yet and it's not as a result of yesterday's layoffs. Apparently all people impacted by layoffs were removed from Backyard at 5:00pm yesterday. And Jeff's still there...make of it what you will.

@Jeff_Bonforte: It is a good head of hair, I'll give you that.

@shumba: You came back? How touching. Bye!

@Owen...Dude, you picked on the wrong guy. Anyone that knows Bonforte knows he is a super sharp guy and is well liked by all. Jeff made a couple of smart moves; a)he moved out of Brad G's group since he saw it was a bunch of suck ups and go no where products, b)he jumped ship for something much better.

Seriously, get your reporting right.

@Jeff_Bonforte: So you're saying you quit and Yahoo just gave you a gracious parting gift? Entertaining.

This guys is a total douche bag with the emotional maturity of an infant and an exceptainally large ego that in no way reflects his contribution. Whether he was fired or not, he should have been, and it should have happened a long time ago. Take your scooter with you, dude, and don't let the door hit your $%^&#!

So he (coincidentally) quit the same day as the layoffs? Why does that seem unlikely?

@Owen Thomas: Normally you seem to know your shit, so I'm surprised about this one. Let me spell it out for you, as this has happened to no less than three friends at Yahoo:

Managers are forced to make painful cuts. Someone says "I was thinking about leaving anyway" and agrees to be one of the people laid off. They get a nice parting gift and the manager gets a painless fire.

One now-ex-Yahoo told his manager in Jan that Feb 1 would be his last day and the manager said "if you stay two extra weeks I'll make it worth your time."

Got it?

Wow -- do you guys really hold replies to editors's comments for review before posting? Odd that my reply to Owen is sitting in the ether somewhere yet a post on another thread went up immediately.

Can't chance someone posting a retort without an immediate opportunity to reply, huh?

Wuss.

Owen, you remain inaccurate in your story and your comments.

I was not fired. But I was laid off. Let me explain:

Yahoo! made good, rational business decisions, in which I helped. First, they brought Delicious (an amazing asset) into the core Search group. Second, they unified the massively successful Answers team in Europe, where part of the development team had been for some time. I supported both these decisions, as they were clearly the right thing to do for the company and its customers.

But with Answers and Delicious in new groups, the role of the VP of Social Search no longer existed. So both Yahoo! and I decided it made sense for me look inside *and* outside the Yahoo! for an appropriate and challenging role. All the good product focused VP roles had good product focused VPs. No problem. So I was left to look for roles outside of Yahoo! My management at Yahoo! was incredibly supportive during this process, for which I am very grateful. They treated me very well, and I hope I returned the favor.

And so, this week I am leaving the company because my role has been eliminated. But, that is the very definition of a layoff. And as no person or company in Tech thinks any job is forever. To invoke a Disney song, "It is the Circle of Life".

I remain a huge fan of Yahoo! and I will miss working there on great products like Delicious, Answers and Messenger. Mostly, I will miss working with my talented colleagues. I wish them all the luck and will be cheering for them from off campus.

You want there to be sensationalism; firings, rejection, smokey backroom maneuvers, etc. Unfortunately for you, most of the time I suspect the truth is far more boring and rational. But without sensationalism real or invented, there is no ValleyWag. And people enjoy this tawdry stuff too much. So in this small way, true or not, I am happy to have helped ;)

Good luck to Yahoo! and all my Yahoo! colleagues. I will miss working with you all.

@A440

As you can see, not everyone loves me. Sad. He is not totally inaccurate. I did zoom around on a scooter (mostly because my cube was so far from the bathroom, sadly). We have wide hallways...it is fun actually. And my ego is extremely large. On any given day, it is tough to say if my fur or my ego is bigger.

And so, not all of my colleagues are sad to see me go. I only hope I didn't put his/her name on my annual 360 review list. Yikes :P

@WhatBubble: You're showing yourself off as a newbie. This has always been our comments policy: first-time commenters must be approved, and commenting is a privilege, not a right. But welcome to Valleywag all the same!

@WhatBubble: You're trying to tell me that Yahoo's middle managers are resisting layoff orders by cutting people who were planning to leave anyway? Please try to keep up with the rest of the class.

Go get 'em Owen! Anything that elicits this much comment must be newsworthy.

@Jeff_Bonforte
Jeff it's not tough to say. On any given day, your ego is always bigger than your fur. ;)

lol 'Rockstars' good God almighty I hate it when they call tech ppl rockstars.

@Jeff
not even close, your fur wins . . . although it seems to be getting darker.

@RichPearson: That picture was taken in the winter. The fur is seasonal in color.

I encountered "the Jeff experience" (as termed by another Yahoo) once. Seemed like a very bright guy. Also seemed undisciplined and inconsiderate -- not in a nasty way, but in a "I'm in my own thoughts and I don't really care how anyone else thinks" kind of way.

@Jeff_Bonforte: In other words, lemon juice ;-)

@Owen Thomas: And you're showing yourself off as lazy. Simply clicking on my name would have shown you that I've posted more than a dozen comments before today.

But hey, as other people have pointed out in this thread, you're not one for verifying your claims.

And once again the comment reply to Owen is held. For a service that makes it's living sniping at others, this paints a pretty unflattering picture of thin-skinned writers.

Ignoring the usual valleywag drama for a second, let me just say that Jeff rocks, and his crazy smart enthusiasm will be missed.

And that's all I've got to say about that.

(thx for the moo card)

Fired or laid off, good for Y!, 3yrs and nothing to show

Good article Owen- seriously- even from Jeff's claim of inaccuracy, after reading his version of events, if I mentally filter out HR speak, sounds like your version of events. Trimming the fat, cutting out middle management. despite work records, it just comes down to a sayonara at the end of the day. I had some hope for Y! a year or so ago, but really, it's bloated.