LONDON (Brand Republic) - Yahoo! has named Terry Semel, the former co-chief executive of Warner Brothers, as its new chairman and CEO, replacing Tim Koogle who announced his resignation last month.
Koogle had intended to stay on as chairman, but yesterday the company said he would take a 鈥渢ransitional鈥 role as vice-chairman until August. After that, he will remain on the board.
Semel was with Warner Brothers for 24 years and, together with his co-chief Robert Daly, helped to build the business into a media empire with sales approaching $11bn (£7.69bn). They both departed in 1999 after a series of box office flops, including Stanley Kubrick鈥檚 Eyes Wide Shut.
With his roots firmly in old media, his appointment is seen as a change of direction for Yahoo!, indicating its desire to become a mainstream media company.
Some experts are also speculating that by appointing someone with Semel鈥檚 experience and connections, the company could be preparing itself for a sale. Semel has denied this, saying that he wants to build Yahoo! into a bigger company.
Yahoo! announced last week it was laying off 12% of its workforce in order to cut costs amid the downturn in advertising revenue. At the same time, the company lowered its earnings and revenue forecast for 2001.
Yahoo!鈥檚 shares closed at $17.31 (£12.11) on Nasdaq last night, down from its previous close of $17.62 (£12.33).
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