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Yahoo! taps Google's Marissa Mayer as new CEO

by Olaf de Senerpont Domis  |  Published July 17, 2012 at 8:41 AM
Yahoo! Inc. late Monday, July 16 announced its latest attempt to solidify its leadership, with the appointment of Google Inc. executive Marissa Mayer to be its president and CEO.

The choice of the 37-year-old Google vice president, who will take the reins Tuesday, came as a surprise. Many observers predicted that interim Yahoo! chief Ross Levinsohn, who was named to his temporary position May 13 and formerly was the company's head of global media, would end up with the permanent position following the departure of previous CEO Scott Thompson. Jason Kilar, the CEO of online TV service Hulu, was another candidate rumored to be a potential candidate.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo! praised Mayer for technology savvy and leadership qualities. The executive joined Google in 1999 as its 20th employee and oversaw the development of the company's flagship search engine and homepage and managed the launch of Google's image, book and product search, toolbar, news service, and Gmail. Most recently she headed Google's local, maps and location services.

"Marissa is a well-known, visionary leader in user experience and product design and one of Silicon Valley's most exciting strategists in technology development," said Yahoo! co-founder David Filo in a statement.

Mayer, who was Google's first female engineer, holds a B.S. from Stanford University in symbolic systems and a master's degree in computer science.

"There is a lot to do and I can't wait to get started," Mayer said in a statement.

Mayer is Yahoo!'s fifth permanent CEO in five years. She follows Thompson, who left in May after inaccuracies were discovered on his resume. His four-month tenure was preceded by Carol Bartz, who spent two and a half years at Yahoo!'s helm before being ousted in September 2011.

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