Yahoo! CEO Semel: "I don’t think a lot of things really ail Yahoo"
Web Editor, "Mad Money"
Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel spoke with Maria Bartiromo on “Closing Bell” today. Here’s a recap of what he said about a few of the issues facing his company:
On today’s announced restructuring: “I did this five years ago. There were a lot of people who thought it was insane. I reorganized the company – and at that time I put it around product – how we could get deeper with our very, very large audience. It’s been a huge hit. Now it’s about customers.”
On what’s ailing Yahoo! these days: ‘I don’t think a lot of things really ail Yahoo! … but we’ve been waiting for Panama [Yahoo!’s new advertising system] – and that is a big difference. And so the other guys do monetize their search that much better. It’s a lot of money on the table. The difference between what they get each time they monetize and what we get each time we monetize– the same kind of search – is very significant.”
Will today’s moves delay Panama again?: “The reorg has absolutely no bearing on Panama.”
On possibly being replaced by Susan Decker: “I’m having a great time, so I’m not going to leave … Sue Decker has done a terrific job at our company … I don’t discuss publicly succession at our company. Never have – don’t think I ever will.”
CNBC’s Jim Goldman talked with Maria before the Semel interview. He says the CEO is under enormous pressure to turn Yahoo! around within the next couple of quarters.
