Yahoo Picks Thomas Weisel Co-Founder as New Financial Chief

Internet media company Yahoo named Blake Jorgensen, co-founder of investment bank Thomas Weisel Partners, as chief financial officer, effective June 4.

Jorgensen replaces Susan Decker, who was named in December to a new role as head of Yahoo's advertiser and publisher group, the company's main revenue generating businesses.

Decker remained as CFO while the company conducted a search to fill that position.

Jorgensen will oversee Yahoo's finance, investor relations and mergers and acquisitions groups. He will report directly to Chairman and Chief Executive Terry Semel.

"Blake has a strong track record of building and running a successful investment banking franchise serving many clients in the Internet and technology industries," Semel said in a statement.

Jorgensen co-founded Thomas Weisel Partners in 1998 and was chief operating officer, co-director of investment banking and a member of the San Francisco-based, publicly traded investment bank's executive committee.

Before joining Thomas Weisel Partners, Jorgensen was a managing director and principal at the corporate finance department of Montgomery Securities, another San Francisco investment bank focused on high-tech clients.

Analyst Youseff Squali of Jefferies & Co. in New York said Yahoo had signaled it was looking for another Wall Street executive to replace Decker.

Before joining Yahoo in 2000, Decker was director of equity research at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where she worked for 14 years.

"Decker had a good mastery of the numbers," said Squali, who has a "buy" rating on Yahoo shares. "She had good reputation with both buysiders and sellsiders. They (Yahoo's board) want to replicate that."