Yahoo named top Google executive Marissa Mayer as its new chief executive Monday, as the company tries to recover from years of shrinking market share and boardroom turmoil.
Mayer, 37, joined Google in 1998 as the company's 20th employee.
She had been responsible for developing the look and feel of the internet giant's search page as well as its popular news page, making
her one of Google's highest profile executives.
A computer science specialist, Mayer was most recently responsible for Local, Maps, and Location Services for Google, but the new job cements her position as one of the most powerful women in the
technology world.
"I am honoured and delighted to lead Yahoo, one of the internet's premier destinations for more than 700 million users," Mayer said in
a statement announcing her surprise appointment.
The move was widely regarded as a coup for Yahoo, which has now been through five chief executives in five years.
Since May, Yahoo's top spot has been filled on an interim basis by former COO Ross Levinsohn. He took the reins after Scott Thompson,
hand-picked for the CEO role from Paypal, was forced to resign after
only four months amid a resume-padding scandal.
Prior to Thompson, Yahoo's board fired Carol Bartz after two years
when she failed to introduce a successful new strategy to return the
company to its glory days of the late 1990s.
In an interview with the New York Times/ Mayer described Yahoo as
"one of the best brands on the Internet." She said she "had an
amazing time at Google," where she has worked for the last 13 years,
but that ultimately "it was a reasonably easy decision" to take the
top job at Yahoo.
"I look forward to working with the company's dedicated employees
to bring innovative products, content, and personalized experiences
to users and advertisers all around the world," Mayer said.
