Jerry Yang in happier times.

No one has been at Yahoo longer than Jerry Yang.  That’s because Yang, along with David Dilo, founded the first big search engine way back in 1995.  He’s been a part of the board of directors since March 1995 and he helped guide the company as CEO from June 2007 until January 2009.  Now, he’s left the company.  Jerry Yang resigned from the Yahoo board of directors (including the boards of Yahoo Japan and Alibaba Group Holding Limited), effective immediately.

Here’s a snippet from Yang’s letter to Yahoo Board Chairman Roy Bostock:  “My time at Yahoo!, from its founding to the present, has encompassed some of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life.  However, the time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo!  As I leave the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago, I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future.”

Yang was the major reason why Yahoo didn’t sell out to Microsoft, and he was actively trying to take the company private; however, Yahoo has been on the stock exchange since 1996, so that was a bit tougher than he expected.  I imagine the fight got to be too much for him, so he threw in the towel the only way he knew how.  I’d imagine Scott Thompson is now free to sell the company to whoever is interested, or divest Yahoo of non-core assets like Associated Content in an attempt to cash out high.

Tags: Jerry Yang, Yahoo, Yahoo founder leaves company, Jerry Yang leaves Yahoo board of directors, Jerry Yang leaves Yahoo, Scott Thompson, Roy Bostock, David Dilo, Alibaba, Yahoo Japan, founder leaves Yahoo, yahoo board of directors, Jerry Yang resigns

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