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| New Yahoo Inc CEO Marissa Mayer laid out broad goals for the Internet giant in her first companywide address Tuesday, and received an enthusiastic reception from a workforce that has faced years of uncertainty and management turmoil. |
Mayer mainly sketched broad visions rather
than concrete details for her turnaround strategy, according to several
people familiar with what was said in the tightly controlled meeting.
But her personal credibility as a long-time senior Google Inc executive, combined with some recent morale-boosting moves such as
providing new iPhones and free food for employees, have had a dramatic
and positive impact on the "vibe" at the company, one of the people
said.
Speaking at Yahoo's
Sunnyvale, California headquarters, Mayer stressed the importance of
personalizing Yahoo's Web services and adapting the company's products
to mobile devices, AllThingsD reported. Although her speech touched on
frequently mentioned industry themes, Mayer's delivery nonetheless won
spontaneous applause from the workforce, according to a second person
with knowledge of the company meeting.
"It
was some of the same types of lines that had been said before, but
people believe it now," said the person, who declined to be identified
because the information is private.
After
a steady stream of occasionally embarrassing reports, Yahoo in recent
months has clamped down firmly on leaks to the press. Attendees at
Tuesday's assembly were instructed to shut their laptops during Mayer's
address.
Yahoo declined repeated requests for comment.
Mayer
first presented her strategy to Yahoo's board in meetings last week,
outlining plans to bring back advertisers and expand the company's user
base, said a third source, who declined to be identified because the
information was not public.
Yahoo
also announced that it appointed as its new chief financial officer Ken
Goldman, formerly CFO at cybersecurity software firm Fortinet
The
appointment comes two months after Yahoo's board tapped Mayer to
restore a household Internet name overshadowed by rivals like Facebook
Inc and Google in recent years.
Yahoo
remains one of the world's most popular websites, with more than 700
million monthly visitors who use products like its email service and
read its news pages, according to the company. But Yahoo's revenue has
stagnated as online display advertising prices have fallen and as it
faces competition from Facebook and Google.
Mayer,
Yahoo's third CEO in about a year, arrived after a tumultuous period in
the company in which former CEO Scott Thompson resigned after less than
6 months on the job over a controversy over his academic credentials.
Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang had also stepped down as CEO, and an
internal reorganization eliminated thousands of jobs.
Mayer's
latest hire, Goldman, replaces Tim Morse, who served last year as
interim Yahoo CEO while the company underwent another episode of
leadership turmoil.
BOOST MORALE, SCANT DETAILS
Since
taking the helm, Mayer has sought to boost morale at the nearly
two-decade-old Internet company, eliminating corporate bureaucracy and
introducing perks such as free cafeteria food and state-of-the-art
smartphones for employees that are standard fare at other Silicon Valley
Web companies.
But Mayer has so
far offered scant details about her plan to revive revenue growth and to
expand its audience - a challenge that has frustrated a string of her
predecessors as well as countless shareholders.
Many
analysts and investors believe Mayer will renew Yahoo's focus on Web
technology and products rather than beefing up online content, as
appeared to be the mission during interim CEO Ross Levinsohn's brief
tenure.
That has raised concerns among some investors that Mayer will embark on an expensive acquisition spree.
Mayer
assuaged some of those fears last week when Yahoo closed the sale of
half of its stake in Chinese Internet company Alibaba Group. Yahoo said
it would give shareholders $3 billion of the deal's $4.3 billion in
after-tax proceeds.
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