Ross Levinsohn Leaves Yahoo

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Ross Levinsohn Leaves Yahoo

The hot news in Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO)’s corporate restructuring is that the ex-interim-CEO and top-exec Ross Levinsohn has left the company. The news has been confirmed by Yahoo! itself, who released a statement that says, “Ross has done a terrific job during his time at Yahoo!. We wish him all the best.”

Levinsohn stayed as the interim CEO for the tech company, after Scott Thompson was fired when a fake computer science degree appeared on his bio. During his management of Yahoo as CEO, Levinsohn oversaw Yahoo’s media and advertising sales divisions.

The resignation of Levinsohn was incumbent for many reasons, the foremost was that Levinsohn would not have settled with just running the company’s media and sales arm, when the newly crowned CEO, Marissa Mayer was eyeing several of  her former team members at Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) to run the sales department. The leading prospective candidates were former Googler Ben Ling, who worked closely with Mayer, as well as current Google exec Henrique De Castro, who is president of global media, mobile, and platforms at Google Inc. De Castro has been Yahoo’s choice for running the sales arm since before Mayer’s appointment.

The exit has been under negotiation for several days now. AllThingsD has reported the contents of the memo that was issued in wake of Levinsohn’s departure:

Subject: Thank You to Ross Levinsohn

Do Not Forward

I am writing to let you know that Ross Levinsohn will be leaving the company at the end of July.

Ross has been an important and powerful contributor at Yahoo since he joined in 2010. During May and June, Ross stepped into an incredibly tough role as interim CEO and did a terffic job — he really helped keep the company moving, closed important deals, and assembled a very talented team. I am very grateful to Ross for his leadership and work throughout his tenure at Yahoo. His contributions will be missed.

Ross will be in Sunnyvale tomorrow (Tuesday, July 31). Please take the opportunity to drop by and thank him for all he has done for the company. I hope you can join me in wishing Ross well and letting him know how much you’ve appreciated him as a colleague.

Marissa

Levinsohn joined Yahoo at the end of 2010, after leaving his job at Fuse Capital. He ran digital operations for Fox Interactive Media unit, after which he bought MySpace. He collected huge sales for MySpace, by striking a lucrative advertising deal with Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG). Levinshon was once the top choice, of shareholder activist, Carl Icahn, to run Yahoo! but was later passed over by another hedge fund manager, Dan Loeb, who lobbied for Mayer instead. For now, Levinshon has not disclosed any plans to join any particular company, but he is popular for his experience in media and sales business, and would probably have many choices.

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