Yang Finally Accepts Reality

This is about 6 months too late for shareholders

Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) said Monday that its co-founder and chief executive, Jerry Yang, will step down after the company finds a replacement, following a tumultuous and short tenure that included the company's rejection of an $33 a share offer by Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) to buy the company. Share currently hover in the $10 range.

Yahoo said it had hired executive search firm Heidrick and Struggles International Inc. to help with the search. The board and Mr. Yang have been discussing the possibility he might step aside for weeks. The move comes as some large investors had been lobbying the board to replace Mr. Yang for months. He had stayed on, arguing that he was the best person to help Yahoo turn itself around.

Recently, Mr. Yang's strategy of keeping Yahoo independent has faced a number of new roadblocks. Google abandoned a pending search deal with the company amid regulatory concerns, and talks over a possible merger with Time Warner Inc.'s AOL (NYSE:TWX) failed to progress as the two side never even approached any common ground on valuation.

Yang's decision to reject outright the Microsoft offer cost shareholders over $30 billion in value......nice work Jerry