The appointment of Google Inc veteran Marissa Mayer as Yahoo Inc’s new chief executive has come like a surprise for the analysts. But the decision has been hailed saying that the Stanford engineer can create a more stable and focused organization.
37 year old Marissa has become Yahoo’s third CEO in a year. Ronald Josey the ThinkEquity analyst wrote in a note to the clients, “We believe Mayer’s background in product and technology and deep understanding of the Internet could lead to improved results at Yahoo longer-term”.
But Marissa getting the top spot in Yahoo comes as a surprise as it was seen as a race between Levinsohn and Hulu CEO Jason Kilar. Levinsohn had focused on turning the company in to an entertainment and information destination which wins back the advertising dollars flowing elsewhere.
On the other hand the media would not have endorsed his plans which were media focused and long termed to turn the ship around. The appointment of Mayer is a clear indication from the board that her background in the product is more likely to generate long term revenue growth than the content focus . The last two CEOs of Yahoo, Scott Thompson from PayPay and Carol Bartz from Autodesk Inc. also had more technology expertise.
