Qi Lu Departure a “Blow” to Yahoo; Makhijani Out Too, Garlinghouse Not Quite Yet
by Kara Swisher
Posted on June 19, 2008 at 1:49 PM PT
As BoomTown reported earlier today, well-regarded top Yahoo techie Qi Lu (pictured here) will be leaving the company, in a move to be announced today or tomorrow by the troubled Internet company.
One Yahoo insider, who characterized Lu as a “rock star” and highly regarded at the company, said the departure was a “blow” that will be devastating to the engineering organization at Yahoo (YHOO).
Our post also alluded to the precarious situation around the top four execs just under Network division head Jeff Weiner, who left last week.
Those execs are: Front Door and Network Services’ Tapan Bhat, Brad Garlinghouse, who heads Yahoo’s communications and communities arenas, Media Group head Scott Moore and Yahoo Search’s Vish Makhijani.
It looks as though the departure of Makhijani (pictured here) will also be announced today or tomorrow.
With Yahoo search just treading water and a deal to outsource some of the search-ad business to Google (GOOG), one has to wonder how Makhijani endured in the center of the storm for this long.
And while there have been reports that Garlinghouse will also leave this week–it was he who started the ball rolling with his infamous “Peanut Butter Manifesto” that called for deep change at Yahoo nearly two years ago–sources tell me he is still sifting through his options, in light of a sweeping reorganization at Yahoo that he is reportedly deeply unhappy about.
That’s why it is more than likely that Garlinghouse (pictured here) will also leave–perhaps by next week–but he has not resigned or told his subordinates of any plans as yet.
But given that power is shifting dramatically to Global Partners Solutions EVP Hilary Schneider in the reorg I wrote about last night, Garlinghouse’s time at Yahoo seems limited.
As I wrote: “Many sources expect that Schneider is likely to amass more power in the new structure–she is close to [Yahoo President Sue] Decker, who must dramatically rejigger Yahoo’s top echelons to better focus the company on its stated objectives of becoming the premier ad network and a consumer ’starting point.’”
More like ending point for a lot of critical Yahoo execs, as repercussions from Yahoo’s botched handling of the Microsoft (MSFT) takeover bid ripple throughout the company.
Memo to Moore and Bhat: If this were a murder mystery, like “Ten Little Indians,” one of you better tread very, very carefully.
