Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) getting a double blow this week, after the exit of interim CEO Ross Levinsohn earlier this week, now its VP of infrastructure, Adam Bechtel is expected to leave for an “unspecified” position at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).
The reasons are still unclear as to why Bechtel has decided to leave Yahoo, may be as per an anonymous Yahoo employee restructuring could be a reason.
Bechtel joined Yahoo in 2003 when the company took over Inktomi Corporation, where he was in charge of networking. Before this he had worked as the CTO of CAT Technology. In Yahoo, he was second to tech, platform and ops head David Dibble.
It was not the first time that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has poached Yahoo’s high-level employee. Last October, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) poached Yahoo’s data center Chief Scott Noteboom.
Apart from these high profile exits, many other less known executives have left Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), most recently was sales exec, Marc Grabowski. Many of them have left due to frequent changes in the top management. Even other employees are in a wait and watch mode, as to how the new CEO will handle the vulnerable situation that Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is in. It was amusing, that when other top executives are leaving, Former Americas ad sales head Rich Riley is still there, even after announcing his plans in June to quit Yahoo within a few months.
Marissa Mayer, a 37-year-old, was appointed as CEO two weeks ago, replacing interim CEO Ross Levinsohn. Retaining Levinsohn would have been one of her first big triumphs. Levinsohn’s severance package included 67,000 shares of restricted Yahoo stock and the option to buy another 250,000 shares at $15.80 a piece.
There are rumors that Mayer might poach employees from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and elsewhere to build her team, she could also consider acquisition to get in talents. Verifying the rumors, she hired former Google PR exec, Anne Espiritu, for corporate communications. Anne Espiritu replaces Dana Langeek, Yahoo’s most recent PR spokeswoman.
