People Moves

Yahoo poaches PayPal boss Scott Thompson as CEO

Yahoo has appointed PayPal boss Scott Thompson as its chief executive, ending a four month search for a new leader after Carol Bartz was ousted in September.

Thompson, who takes on the role on 9 January, will be the fledging internet giant’s fourth CEO in five years, succeeding Carol Bartz, co-founder Jerry Yang and Terry Semel. He will take over from Yahoo’s chief financial officer Tim Morse, who stepped into the role in the interim. Morse will resume his former position.

Thompson has been president of PayPal since 2008, where under his leadership the eBay company expanded its user base from 50 million to 104 million users globally. He was previously PayPal’s senior vice-president and chief technology officer.

“Scott brings to Yahoo a proven record of building on a solid foundation of existing assets and resources to reignite innovation and drive growth, precisely the formula we need at Yahoo,” says Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock. “His deep understanding of online businesses combined with his team building and operational capabilities will restore the energy, focus and momentum necessary to grow the core business. The search committee and the entire board concluded that he is the right leader to return the core business to a path of robust growth and industry-leading innovation.”

During the last quarter of 2011, Yahoo embarked upon a strategic review of its operations following a continuous struggle to compete with Google and Facebook. Speculation of a buyout has forced Yahoo into the headlines recently and Yahoo is understood to be considering a plan to cut its 40% stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group and sell its 35% ownership in Yahoo Japan.

Jenni Baker, London