Yahoo! CFO steps down

26 Feb 2009

The chief financial officer of troubled internet portal giant Yahoo! Blake Jorgensen is leaving the company ahead of an expected reshuffle.

Jorgensen (pictured) is the latest in a series of executive departures that have occurred since Carol Bartz took over the helm of Yahoo! as CEO six weeks ago.

Last year, Microsoft abandoned its US$44.6bn takeover plans for Yahoo! after previous CEO Jerry Yang and the then board bungled the deal.

Six weeks ago, Bartz took over from Yang, and shortly after admitted that she had held telephone conversations with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who repeated he is interested still in buying Yahoo!’s search business.

Yahoo! has initiated a search for a new CEO and Jorgensen will remain for a transition period.

Jorgensen’s decision to leave occurs as Bartz is expected to announce a major corporate re-organisation.

Yahoo!’s shares jumped 5.3pc on Nasdaq after Jorgensen told analysts at a Goldman Sachs technology conference that Yahoo!’s search business was still for sale.

By John Kennedy

Pictured: Yahoo! chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen, who is leaving the company

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com