Four months after CEO Carol Bartz was brutally fired over the phone last fall, Yahoo has named a replacement. The company's board has tapped Scott Thompson, the chief of eBay's PayPal payment service, to lead the struggling internet portal out of troubled waters. Given that Thompson doesn't have a background in media and advertising, many are questioning whether he's really the right man for the job. Did Yahoo pick the wrong new CEO?
Absolutely. He doesn't know Yahoo's business: In 2011, Yahoo rebranded itself as a "premiere digital media company," says Nicholas Carlson at Business Insider. Funny then that it's "hired a product manager to be its CEO, not a media or advertising executive." Thompson didn't exactly inspire confidence when, in his first call with analysts and investors, he flat-out admitted to knowing next-to-nothing about display advertising, which is how Yahoo makes most of its cash.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Ottawa climate talks: can global plastic problem be solved?In the spotlight Nations aim to draft world's first treaty on plastic pollution, but resistance from oil- and gas-producing countries could limit scope
-
Netherlands split on WFH for sex workersSpeed Read Councils concerned over 'nuisance' of at-home sex work, but others say changes will curb underground sex trade
-
'He adored Trump, and then rejected him'Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
