Tough turnaround for Yahoo’s new CEO Thompson

Yahoo’s four-month search for a CEO has finally come to an end—and with it, some of the uncertainty that’s been plaguing the company ever since its board showed a cursing Carol Bartz the door. The company recently named Scott Thompson, who was president at eBay’s PayPal unit, its new chief executive officer. Thompson has been credited with helping PayPal successfully expand into mobile payments and daily deals. But he faces significantly larger hurdles at the helm of Yahoo. While rivals Facebook and Google have flourished, Yahoo has lagged behind in the Internet advertising market. And the company still faces questions about whether it plans to put itself up for sale or shed some of its assets. “He’s in for a ride,” noted TechCrunch’s Matt Burns. “Thompson needs to hit the ground running. Yahoo needs a clear path. It needs a renewed focus. Yahoo needs help.”

Thompson has big plans to reinvent the company and has his eye on data as a long-term driver of growth. “If you’re a media company, a display business that has 700 million people visiting its properties every month, playing in a space that’s evolving so quickly, growing fast, there’s a chance to redefine yourself and recreate a really big brand for consumers and advertisers in a way that could be very compelling,” he told Ad Age’s Jason Del Rey. But is Thompson the answer to Yahoo’s woes? Industry reactions were mixed. Some critics pointed out Thompson’s lack of experience in media. “He’s never been in the business of making content or making money off content. Odd,” wrote Business Insider’s Nicholas Carlson. Following Yahoo’s announcement that it had tapped Thompson, its stock dropped 3.1 percent. “Wall Street would have liked Yahoo to at least select someone with media or turnaround experience. But it went 0 for 2 on those counts,” explained Fast Company’s E.B. Boyd. But Thompson could breathe new life into Yahoo in other ways. “Scott Thompson isn’t an obvious pick to lead Yahoo, but he brings to the struggling Internet company expertise in technology and operations,” wrote the AP’s Barbara Ortutay.

• Yahoo Finds New CEO at PayPal (Wall Street Journal)
  
• The Key to Yahoo’s Long-Term Health? Data, Says New CEO (Ad Age)
  
• It’s Official: Yahoo Announces PayPal President Scott Thompson As Its New CEO (TechCrunch)
  
• Yahoo’s New CEO Has Zero Media, Advertising, Or Content Experience (Business Insider)
  
• Thompson brings tech background to Yahoo (AP)
  
• Brand new CEO, same old messed up Yahoo (GigaOm)
  
• After New CEO Scott “Nice Guy” Thompson Meets Yahoo VPs, It’s Time for All-Hands Meeting to Say Hello! (AllThingsD)
  
• Is Scott Thompson the ‘back to basics’ guy Yahoo’s needed all along? (Reuters)
  
• New Yahoo CEO Makes Millions Even If He Does Nothing But Show Up For A Year (paidContent)
  
• Yahoo’s new CEO Thompson: Five big challenges (ZDNet)
  
• Data Darlings: Why New Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson Has A Fighting Chance (Fast Company)