The revolving door turns both ways at Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), apparently.
In a press release this morning, the dot-com giant welcomed Joanne K. Bradford to the freshly minted senior vice president position of U.S. Revenue and Market Development.
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Bradford comes with pedigree papers, after cutting her teeth in executive positions at ad-placement company Spot Runner and Yahoo!'s jilted rival, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT).
She also becomes another strong female exec at the company, joining Hilary Schneider and Sue Decker. Isn't it just a matter of time before the male ineptitude at the top -- from Terry Semel last year to the latest battering-ram-attracting performance of CEO Jerry Yang and Chairman Roy Bostock -- leads to a new look at Yahoo!, with one less glass ceiling to contend with?
Either way, it's refreshing to see a new face. Microsoft, Yahoo!, and even the suddenly mortal Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) have had to cope with key hires who have moved on to startups, rivals, or Facebook.
Yahoo!'s stock is nearing a five-year low, but that decline may be a dinner bell for potential executives who see the appreciation of stock options as a major payday, if they can help turn the company around. Sure, the same thing can be said of other tech companies that faded away, but Yahoo! isn't going anywhere. It's flush with cash. It's profitable. It's a Web-traffic magnet.
The executive turnover is also attractive since there will be several new people starting at the same time. Then again, I guess everything is a ground-floor opportunity when the penthouse collapses.
Copyright © 2008 Universal Press Syndicate
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