Yahoo! Co-Founder Jerry Yang Resigns

Jerry Yang, Yahoo!'s co-founder, has resigned from the company's board of directors and every other position he held. Yang is leaving at a time when the Internet behemoth has struggled to remain relevant in an age of social media.

"The time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo!," Yang said in a statement. In the same press release, Yang was praised by the chairman of the board and the CEO, who called him a visionary and an innovator.

But as The Wall Street Journal reports, Yang's resignation was coming:

"Remember that Yahoo shareholder Dan Loeb wanted Yang off the board, and some Yahoo investors believed Yang was improperly talking on his own to potential buyers for Yahoo. Our Journal colleagues recently reported Yahoo was searching for a few good director candidates.

"Yahoo's statement (see below) says Yang is leaving the board to pursue other interests. Yahoo's stock price is rallying, no doubt because investors have seen Yang as a roadblock to a sale or other big shakeup at the company."

The AP reports that Yang had "alienated the company's shareholders by turning down a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft Corp. in 2008."

Update at 7:16 p.m. ET. A Bit More Background:

The AP adds that Yang's resignation comes two weeks after Yahoo! announced Scott Thompson, a former PayPal executive, would be its next CEO.

"Thompson is the fourth CEO in less than five years to try to turn around Yahoo a challenge that Yang was unable to pull off during his own tumultuous 18-month reign as the company's CEO in 2007 and 2008," the AP reports.

All Things D reports that Yang's resignation may be a sign of things to come. Other board members, they report, will follow suit.

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