Yahoo Ramps Up Executive Makeover

A month after naming a new CEO, Yahoo shook up its board Tuesday in a move to reinvigorate its business and possibly accelerate attempts to find a buyer.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said longtime Chairman Roy Bostock and three other board members -- Vyomesh Joshi, Gary Wilson and Arthur Kern -- will step aside after the company's shareholder meeting.

Replacing them on the board: Alfred Amoroso, former CEO of Rovi, a digital entertainment company; and Maynard Webb, chairman (and former CEO) of LiveOps, a customer call center company that uses cloud computing. Webb also worked previously as eBay's COO.

The shake-up is part of Yahoo's ongoing housecleaning of its management. Analysts had expected Bostock's departure since co-founder Jerry Yang exited in mid-January. Scott Thompson, who ran eBay's PayPal business, was tapped as Yahoo CEO in early January, replacing Carol Bartz, who was booted last September.

Yang, Bostock and other departing board members angered major shareholders in 2008 when they turned down an unsolicited $45 billion offer from Microsoft shortly before the economic downturn, a decision which was widely criticized. Yahoo's current market value is about $19.6 billion.

Yahoo's outgoing management has also been blamed for its sluggish response to competitive threats from Google and Facebook in more- promising business categories, such as social network display ads.

"These guys had overstayed their welcome," says Jonathan Yarmis, an independent analyst.

Some analysts saw the latest board shuffle as a pre-emptive move to avoid a proxy fight from other still-angry shareholders. But Yarmis says the move, while it may placate some shareholders, stems more likely from Thompson wanting new board members.

Meanwhile, Yahoo says it continues to look for an equity buyer, and the revamped management team could give that effort new life, says Karsten Weide, an analyst at IDC. "The old board was just in place for too long and...