Marissa Mayer, who designed Google’s iconic search homepage, has become Yahoo!’s latest CEO, after resigning Google on Monday, July 16th.
“I am honored and delighted to lead Yahoo!, one of the internet’s premier destinations for more than 700 million users,” Mayer said in a statement.
Shares of Yahoo were up 2.14% to $15.98 in extending trading after the surprising news about Marissa Mayer was made public. Marissa spent 13 years at Google, after she joined the company in 1999 as the 20th employee. In the last years she oversaw Google’s Local, Maps and Location Services, and also the launch of Google News and Gmail.
“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.
After Yahoo!’s co-founder Jerry Yang left in 2009, and former Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz was fired in 2011, the company had to accept the resignation of Scott Thompson in May after the former CEO of eBay’s PayPal lied about his academic credentials.
“The Board of Directors unanimously agreed that Marissa’s unparalleled track record in technology, design, and product execution makes her the right leader for Yahoo! at this time of enormous opportunity,” said Fred Amoroso, Yahoo! chairman.
