Yahoo confirmed rumors Wednesday and picked PayPal president Scott Thompson as its new CEO. The nomination of the eBay division head followed months of uncertainty at the company following the firing of Carol Bartz in September. Thompson takes the position January 9.
In helping to pick the new CEO, Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock pointed to Thompson’s success at PayPal, more than doubling its users to 104 million and doing the same for revenue. Thompson promised a full assessment of Yahoo’s businesses to see what worked.
His appointment is believed to have come as Yahoo hunted for an executive directly immersed in the web-based services that form its core. Bartz had experience in technology but wasn’t directly connected to the business.
The new leadership isn’t expected to change talk of possible Asian deals, such as selling off its Alibaba and SoftBank shares. Yahoo had at one point been exploring the possibility of a complete sell-off, candidates for which could have included a private equity partnership that would have involved Microsoft’s help.
