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Who will be the next Yahoo ceo?

By Amarendra Bhushan for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:November 19, 2008

When Yang assumed the top job in June 2007, Yahoo held a 20.2% share of the U.S. online-search market, compared with Google’s 52.7% share, according to Nielsen Online. By September of this year, it held an 18.1% share compared to Google’s 59.7% share.

Some have speculated that the top job could go to current Yahoo President Sue Decker. However, Decker may be too closely associated with Yang’s troubled tenure — and with that of Yang’s predecessor, Terry Semel, when many Yahoo observers began hitting the panic button.

The pool of other potential candidates to succeed Yang is extensive. It includes Jon Miller, a former head of Time Warner Inc.’s AOL unit; News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin; former Microsoft executive and current Juniper Networks Inc. Chief Executive Kevin Johnson; and former Yahoo Chief Operating Officer Dan Rosensweig, Microsoft executive Brian McAndrews, Mike Leo, who co-founded aQuantive.

Jonathan F. Miller!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (1st choice)

Susan Decker

As the president of Yahoo! Inc., Susan L. Decker is a key participant in determining Yahoo!’s business strategy and vision. She is responsible for all of the global business operations of Yahoo!, including sales, product marketing, product, and distribution across the three major customer groups of audience, advertisers and publishers. Prior to that, from December 2006 – June 2007, she served as the head of one Yahoo!’s two major business units, the Advertiser and Publisher Group (APG), where she was instrumental in developing the company’s recent reorganization plan and strategy to transform how advertisers connect with their target customers on the Internet. Prior to her APG role, Decker was executive vice president and chief financial officer from June 2000 – June 2007, managing all aspects of the company’s financial and administrative direction within key functional areas, including finance, facilities, investor relations (and human resources and legal through December 2006).

Prior to joining Yahoo! in June 2000, Decker was with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) for 14 years. Most recently, she served as the global director of equity research, a $300 million operation, where, among other things, she was responsible for building and staffing a non-U.S. research product based on global sector teams. Before serving as DLJ’s global and domestic head of research, she spent 12 years as an equity research analyst, providing coverage to institutional investors on more than 30 media, publishing, and advertising stocks. In this capacity, she received recognition by Institutional Investor magazine as a top rated analyst for ten consecutive years.

Decker holds a bachelor of science degree from Tufts University, with a double major in computer science and economics, and a master of business administration degree from Harvard Business School. She also received the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst in 1989 and served on the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC) for a four-year term, from January 2000 to January 2004. Decker served on the board of directors of Pixar Animation Studios from June 2004 to May 2006, until its sale to Disney and The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) from March 2005 to May 2007. Decker currently serves on the board of directors for Berkshire Hathaway, Intel Corporation and Costco Wholesale.

Peter Chernin

Peter Chernin is President and Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation, and Chairman and CEO of Fox Entertainment Group. In addition to the Fox duties, he is also a Corporate Director for American Express.

Chernin is currently a board member of Malaria No More, a New York-based nonprofit that was launched at the 2006 White House Summit with the goal of ending all deaths caused by malaria.

Widely considered one of the most powerful media executives in the world, Chernin has been credited in particular with the success of Fox’s cable operations. Prior to joining Fox, Chernin was president and COO of Lorimar Film Entertainment. His other executive roles include positions at Showtime/The Movie Channel, Warner Books and St. Martin’s Press.

It is rumored in the media that he will leave his current position at News Corp. by June 2009, when his contract expires, and will be replaced in his current position by James Murdoch, the media executive youngest son of Rupert Murdoch.

Kevin Johnson

Kevin Johnson joined Juniper Networks in September of 2008 in the roles of CEO and member of the Board. Prior to Juniper, Johnson spent 16 years at Microsoft, most recently as President of Platforms & Services Division, an organization of over 14,000 employees with responsibility for product development, marketing and strategy for the Windows and Online Services businesses. Under his leadership, the division achieved record breaking results with over $20 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2008. In addition to leading the Windows business, Johnson focused on building Microsoft’s position as a leader in online advertising and evolving its “software + services” strategy. He also worked globally with consumer, small and medium-sized business, enterprise and service provider customers.

Prior to that role, Johnson served as group vice president of Microsoft’s worldwide sales, marketing and services and oversaw corporate operations and IT functions that supported the work of Microsoft employees around the world. Previous to Microsoft, Johnson worked in IBM’s systems integration and consulting business and started his career as a software developer. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from New Mexico State University and served as a founding member of the board of directors of NPower, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help other nonprofits use technology to expand the reach and impact of their work. Johnson also served as a member of the Western Region Board of Advisors of Catalyst, a non-profit organization dedicated to women’s career advancement.

Dan Rosensweig

Daniel Rosensweig was appointed chief operating officer of Yahoo! in April 2002. Reporting to chairman and chief executive officer, Terry Semel, Rosensweig oversees the operations of Yahoo! worldwide. Functions reporting to him include product development, marketing, international operations, and North American operations, which encompasses the company’s six business units and advertising sales.

Prior to joining Yahoo!, Rosensweig was president of CNET Networks, a position he took on following the merger of ZDNet and CNET in 2000. In this capacity he was responsible for many of the operations globally, and played a critical role in overseeing the successful integration of the two companies. During his tenure, he was also a key participant in company-wide efforts to develop and introduce innovative new Internet advertising formats, such as interactive messaging units.

Before joining CNET Networks, Rosensweig was an 18-year veteran of Ziff-Davis, where he served in many capacities, including president and chief executive officer of ZDNet, Inc. from 1997 to 2000. Rosensweig built ZDNet as a standalone company from Ziff-Davis, successfully took the company public, grew the business to become both profitable and among the top 20 most visited networks on the Internet, and finally merged with CNET. Rosensweig was president of Ziff-Davis Internet Publishing Group from 1996 to 1997, where he oversaw magazine titles such as Inter@ctive Week and Yahoo! Internet Life. He was vice-president and publisher of PC Magazine from 1994 to 1996, and associate publisher from 1992 to 1994. Under his tenure, PC Magazine became the leading computer magazine in both audience reach and revenue. He also held various other positions at Ziff-Davis in advertising sales, classified ad sales, and circulation. Rosensweig received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Hobart College, Geneva, New York.

Brian McAndrews

Brian McAndrews leads the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions (APS) Group at Microsoft Corp. The APS team is responsible for building and marketing all ad platforms, including Atlas, DRIVEpm, MSNDR, Microsoft AdCenter and PubCenter, along with emerging media including Atlas On Demand, Massive Inc. and ScreenTonic.

McAndrews ran aQuantive Inc., one of the fastest-growing global digital marketing companies in the world, before its acquisition by Microsoft in August 2007, the largest Microsoft acquisition to date. He served as aQuantive’s chief executive officer since September 1999. The company included three distinct business units: Avenue A | Razorfish, one of the world’s largest interactive advertising firms (with agencies in Australia, China, France, Germany, Japan and the U.K.); Atlas and DRIVEpm.

aQuantive reached many milestones under McAndrews’ direction, including its initial public offering in 2000, the launch of the Atlas advertising technology division in 2001 and the launch of DRIVEpm in 2004. McAndrews also guided the company in 13 acquisitions, including Razorfish in 2004 and numerous international acquisitions, giving the company a global presence.

From February 1990 to September 1999, McAndrews worked for ABC Inc., a broadcasting and communications company, holding executive positions at ABC Sports, ABC Entertainment and ABC Television Network and eventually becoming executive vice president and general manager for ABC Sports. From 1984 to 1989 he served as a product manager for General Mills Inc., a leading consumer products manufacturer.

McAndrews serves on the board of directors for Fisher Communications Inc., a media company based in Seattle; for WhitePages.com Inc.; and for the Seattle-Northwest Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors. He earned a bachelor of arts (A.B.) in economics from Harvard University, and graduated from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

In March 2008, McAndrews was named Executive of the Year on Advertising Age’s Digital A-List. Previously, Business 2.0 ranked McAndrews number eleven in its 2007 “The 50 Who Matter Now” issue.

R. Michael Leo

“Mike” Leo joined Operative in 2003 as CEO and President. Infusing Operative with his energy and drive, Mike has led the company to become a “must have” solutions provider for interactive advertisers/publishers including, MSN, Fox Interactive Media, The Wall Street Journal and CBS Radio. Considered by many to be one of the interactive industry’s most recognized thought leaders, Mike brings to Operative a leadership style and industry perspective based on more than 14 years at the executive level at some of the most prestigious marketing and media companies in the digital world.

Mike was cofounder of aQuantive (NASDAQ: AQNT), a digital marketing organization now owned by Microsoft that became one of the industry’s biggest success stories. Mike assembled the team that helped to grow aQuantive to one of the best and largest interactive agencies in the world.

In his role as CEO and President of Operative, Mike has utilized his unmistakable entrepreneurial drive and vision along with business acumen to spearhead corporate growth. With Mike at the helm, Operative has experienced doubled-revenue growth for the past two consecutive years and has recruited some of advertising’s most recognizable talent.

Silicon Alley Insider ranked Mike the 85th most influential New Yorker in digital media in 2007, and AlwaysOn and KPMG named Mike as one of the ten executives in the first annual Madison Avenue IT list in 2008.

Let Heidrick & Struggles think……………………

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