Internet company Yahoo has said its co-founder Jerry Yang has quit the company he founded 17 years ago.
Yahoo said besides quitting the board of its directors, Yang has resigned from all other positions in the company, effective from Wednesday, as well as from the Boards of
Yahoo Japan Corporation and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd , firms in which Yahoo has stakes.
Yang's abrupt departure comes just two weeks after the struggling internet firm appointed former eBay executive Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer.
In a letter to Yahoo Board Chairman Roy Bostock, Yang, 43, said, "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 ... the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago."
Yang put his support behind Thompson, expressing confidence in the ability of the
new CEO and of the entire Yahoo leadership team to guide the company "into an exciting and successful future."
Yang, whose position in the company was 'Chief Yahoo', had co-founded Yahoo in 1995 with his Stanford University classmate David Filo and had served as a member of the Board of Directors since March 1995 and as Chief Executive Officer from June 2007 to January 2009.
The company went public in 1996.
Yang had been CEO when Yahoo had rejected a 47.5 billion dollar acquisition offer from Microsoft. He was replaced by Carol Bartz as CEO, who was fired in September 2011. As of November, Yang owned a 3.8 per cent stake in Yahoo.
Yang's departure comes as Yahoo struggles with declining revenues and a growing competition from Google and Facebook, which have been cornering a large share of the online advertising revenue pie.
Yahoo's shareholders too have not been very happy with its performance.
Describing Yang as a "visionary and pioneer," Bostock said he has always focused on the best interests of Yahoo's stakeholders, including shareholders, employees and more than 700 million users.
"While I and the entire Board respect his decision, we will miss his remarkable perspective, vision and wise counsel.
On behalf of the Board, we thank Jerry and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours."
He added that the company shares Yang's enthusiasm for its prospects and under Thompson's leadership to deliver innovative products and an engaging customer experience, the company's "future is bright."
Special 
