The management structure that Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz is designing to make the Internet giant “faster on its feet” won’t include CFO Blake Jorgensen.
As part of a major reorganization under Bartz, who came to the company last month, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo said in a terse Securities and Exchange Commission filing that Jorgensen will leave the company. It wasn’t specific about why or when Jorgensen is leaving. However, the company noted that a search for his replacement is underway, and that Jorgensen will remain at the company to assist with the transition.
A Yahoo spokeswoman told CFO.com that the company is creating an organization to enable improvements to be made in product quality and operational efficiency, and to install clear decision making and accountability. She said that Jorgensen would not be immediately available for an interview.
In a blog posting on Yahoo’s corporate blog site, Bartz noted that she has spent the last month and a half learning the ins and outs of the second-ranked U.S. Internet search engine operator. “People here have impressed the hell out of me. They’re smart, dedicated, passionate, driven, and really nice,” she says. “There’s so much great energy and frankly lots of optimism. But there’s also plenty that has bogged this company down.”
Jorgensen becomes the most senior executive to leave Yahoo since Bartz took over for Jerry Yang last month. The head of Yahoo Mobile, Marco Boerries, and of Yahoo News, Neeraj Khemlani, also left the company in recent weeks.
Jorgensen came to Yahoo in 2007 in an earlier reorganization that followed his predecessor Susan Decker’s promotion to corporate president. At the time, Yahoo was struggling with falling stock prices and dwindling ad sales. Decker, too, stepped down from her current role as president last month. Upon his appointment Jorgensen told CFO.com that he was excited for the opportunity to join the Yahoo! Team.
Before joining Yahoo, Jorgensen had spent most of his career in investment banking. He served in roles such as chief operating officer and co-director of investment banking at Thomas Weisel Partners Group, the investment bank he cofounded in 1998.
In other appointments at Yahoo, Hilary Schneider was named executive vice president,North American region, while Elisa Steele will lead Yahoo’s marketing as chief marketing officer.Technology chief Ari Balogh will oversee the technology and products group, and David Ko will be head of Global Mobile Business, reporting to Schneider. David Dibble will lead the newly created Service Engineering & Operations team.