Gawker
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exits
Investor Takes Over Management of Huffington Post
As the Huffington Post bulks up, the company is apparently changing management: CEO Betsy Morgan is on her way out, replaced by Eric Hippeau of investor SoftBank Capital, PaidContent reports. More » -
exits
Google's Still Got a Crush on Flickr, How Cute!
Yahoo has started its latest round of layoffs, which hit its pixel-cute photo-sharing site Flickr, a formerly sacrosanct fiefdom. We hear Google has its eyes on some of the Flickr employees Yahoo let slip. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by twig: This post is a trainwreck; let me count the ways. 1. The conversation is a remarkable non-story. If Sergey... 1 Responses | Other threads
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exits
Friendship with Boss's Wife Can't Save MySpace CEO
Sucking up to the CEO's wife is usually a wise move. But did it doom MySpace chief Chris DeWolfe? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by owenmeanie: I prefer to think of MySpace as the girl who I lost my virginity to - DAMN it was hot... more » | Other threads
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exits
Boat-Loving Fast Company CEO Out of His Office
John Koten, the nautical-enthusiast CEO of Fast Company and Inc. publisher Mansueto Ventures, moved out of his office last week ... into a cubicle. The move has magazine workers "freaking out," a tipster tells us. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by ChillbearLatrigue: I thought that this story was going to be about the Love Boat. Not Boat-Loving. Imagine my chagrine. 5 Responses | Other threads
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exits
Google's Top Salesman Ditches the Company at Its Peak
Google, surprisingly, had an okay quarter, with revenues up 6 percent. This optimistic figure buried the bad news: Sales chief Omid Kordestani is stepping down. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by yupisaidit: i'm not saying CEO of yahoo isn't a big step up for tim armstrong. however, i'm sure he would have... 2 Responses | Other threads
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rumormonger
Who's Leaving Facebook Next?
The wheels seem to be coming off at Facebook after the ouster of CFO Gideon Yu. We hear another executive is leaving the social network to spend more time with his family. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Pope John Peeps II: Where do these photos keep coming from? It looks like all the Facebook senior staff had their pictures taken at... 12 Responses | Other threads
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exits
Cash-Crunched Facebook Loses Its CFO
One by one, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has driven away his cofounders and close confidants. The latest to go: chief financial officer Gideon Yu. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by dado: At least they all have a way to stay in touch. 5 Responses | Other threads
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confirmed
Google Designer Heads to Way Cooler Job at Twitter
So much for Twitter being a source of real-time news! Nearly three weeks after Valleywag first reported the startup's poaching of top Google designer Doug Bowman, cofounder Biz Stone confirms the hire.
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By Owen ThomasComment by LeftCoastLady: That photo looks like he's getting a "job" alright... 2 Responses | Other threads
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nerdfight
The Unflinching Stare of Marissa Mayer
Is Marissa Mayer, Google's cupcake princess, driving away talent with her icy indifference and utter lack of management skills? One ex-Googler says yes. Here's Anne Halsall's tale of getting dissed by Mayer at a meeting: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by sample032: I've given up caring about people's feelings at work. I'm not being paid to be sensitive, I'm being paid... 12 Responses | Other threads
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valleywag
Google's Data Fetish Drives Away Its Top Designer
As we reported last week, Doug Bowman, Google's top designer, has confirmed that he's leaving (we hear to Twitter). Bowman's reasons for quitting are fascinating — and they show why Google's losing its cool. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Nic Fit: Yeah, and if Google was founded by a bunch of princess designers it would have gone nowhere. 4 Responses | Other threads
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exits
AOL Boots Loser CEO for Google's Tim Armstrong
At last, AOL has done something right: The Time Warner Internet unit has hired Google's Tim Armstrong as its new CEO, booting the laughably incompetent duo of CEO Randy Falco and COO Ron Grant. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Nick Denton: Why are you so sure he's the best man for the job? He's no product guy -- and arguably that's... 4 Responses | Other threads
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diggnation
After Jimmy Fallon, Is Kevin Rose's Buddy Act Over?
Did you hear? Digg founder Kevin Rose was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Wednesday. As was Rose's forgettable Diggnation cohost — what's his name? Ah, yes — Alex Albrecht, who we hear wants out. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Widget Economist: Rose is a symbolic mantra of the "Young, do-nothing, be a cryptic, stuck up asshole and you can become famous... 2 Responses | Other threads
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blogging for dollars
The Decline and Fall of Robert Scoble
Ignored in high school, the geek princes of social media now thrive on attention from eager fanboys (and calculating flacks). Relentless Fast Company egoblogger Robert Scoble was their king. Until he got dethroned. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by MATIC: Poor Scobez. He's so easy to hate, and yet honestly doesn't seem to be a "bad" guy at all. 2 Responses | Other threads
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exclusive
Another Exec Unfriends Facebook
Facebook is fun to use. But it's not a fun place to work — as confirmed by the defection of Net Jacobsson, a key executive in Facebook's effort to cash in on your life online.
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By Owen ThomasComment by thecowardlylion: Gee working for a 24 year old is no fun? I can't imagine. This is why investors insist we bring... 5 Responses | Other threads
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leaks
MySpace Memo: Three Top Execs Leaving
Amit Kapur, the 27-year-old No. 2 executive at MySpace, is leaving, according to a memo from MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe. It looks like he's planning a startup: He's taking two executives with him. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by heroinandpeeps: Be honest with me...there is no "Tom," is there? 4 Responses | Other threads
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Googlefreude
Marissa Mayer: Google's Biggest Failure
Google's perfectionist cupcake princess is totally misunderstood! That's the claim Marissa Mayer, the VP who oversees Google search, makes to a credulous New York Times, which licks up the frosted version of her career.
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41,249
By Owen ThomasComment by Wrapitup: "Good students are good at all things." But a good student is not necessarily a good software engineer or a good... 5 Responses | Other threads
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yahoo
Carol Bartz Gets New Yahoo Org Chart Half Right
Yahoo's new CEO Carol Bartz hates leaks, and we love Yahoo org charts, so the fact that we've received her announcement of the new Yahoo corporate structure is some kind of harmonic convergence. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Rock tha Hizzee: How different is the Customer Advocacy group from the Customer Insights group that Sue Decker championed? I mean, seriously. 4 Responses | Other threads
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apple
How Steve Jobs Turned Minutiae Into Medical Drama
Steve Jobs won't attend Apple's shareholder meeting. He may have stopped using his computer altogether. No surprise, since the Apple CEO is on medical leave. But people just can't stop talking about him. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Rick Thomchick: ps - you are the one turning minutiae into medical drama, not Steve Jobs. 1 Responses | Other threads
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exits
Yahoo's Do-Nothings Set to Bleed Purple
It's the reorg to end all reorgs! Under widely loathed former management, Yahoo became famous for its dumb corporate reshufflings. New CEO Carol Bartz, a lovably profane taskmistress, is aiming to undo their mess. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Auntie_Meme is outta here: I work with textiles for a living, so I admit I'm not that technically savvy. I have My Yahoo! as... 1 Responses | Other threads
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techcrunch
Michael Arrington Wishes He Could Quit Us
TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington, left distraught after a stranger spat on him at a tech conference in Munich, promised he'd take February off. Two days in, he's having a hard time leaving the Internet. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by DaTruf: How can we miss him if he won't go away? 2 Responses | Other threads
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exits
Marissa Mayer Sticking to Google Like Icing on a Cupcake
Google will never be free of Marissa Mayer, the cupcake-loving gigglepuss VP who oversees the company's multibillion-dollar search engine. Or so says Marissa Mayer. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Tremonius: Even though they closed the no-host bar, I don't know why in this climate anybody would leave Google. I mean,... 3 Responses | Other threads
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carol bartz
Yahoo CEO's First Job: Fire Her No. 2
Yahoo's board will soon announce it has hired Carol Bartz, a software-industry veteran, to run the troubled Web-media business. The first question: How long before Bartz fires Sue Decker, Yahoo's president? (Update: not long!) More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by giddieup: i think you are giving decker too much credit. that amount of plotting is impossible to scheme by someone like... 1 Responses | Other threads
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google
Marissa Mayer's 2009 Resolution: Leave Google
What will Google be like without Marissa Mayer, the glamour nerd whose goofy laugh so neatly captures the search engine's adolescent awkwardness? We'll know soon. We hear the company's 19th employee is planning her goodbye.
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By Owen ThomasComment by nirreskeya: OK, I've only ever read about this laugh, so I played the clip. Please tell me these are faked... 5 Responses | Other threads
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exits
Why It's Time for Steve Jobs and Apple to Split
Is Steve Jobs dying? Larry Ellison thinks so — the prospect reportedly moved the Oracle CEO to tears. A Gizmodo source thinks his "health is rapidly declining." For Apple, it could be good news.
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By Owen ThomasComment by OMG! Ponies!: I just think it's great how everyone is dumping on Jesus Diaz as of course. Jim Goldman is off in Jersey,... 9 Responses | Other threads
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exits
LinkedIn loses a CEO, gains a Yahoo
Recessionary times should be glory days for LinkedIn, as people furiously network on the business-contacts website for scraps of work. But instead, it's LinkedIn CEO Dan Nye who finds himself out of a job.
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By Owen ThomasComment by sunnyvalesteve: Jeff Weiner, the no-talent colossal egomaniac a**hole who drove Yahoo Search into the ground now gets to try his hand... 2 Responses | Other threads
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darryl siry
Electric carmaker's motormouth marketer
Tesla Motors, once the best hope of Silicon Valley's nascent electric-car industry, is getting better known for manufacturing drama than vehicles. The company just saw its top marketer, Darryl Siry leave — allegedly after running his mouth about ex-employees. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by irrational exuberance: Yes, perhaps not the most clever name for a blog, but I know Darryl and he's an exceptionally smart, stand-up... 6 Responses | Other threads
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twitter
Twitter's bad news is a bad business
People who use Twitter, a service which posts short updates to the Web and cell phones, love nothing more than to Twitter about themselves, and the medium they've so enthusiastically adopted. If you go by the Twitterers' collective reporting, every event, from an earthquake in Los Angeles to terrorist bombings in Mumbai, is more notable for the fact that people are writing about it on Twitter than for its inherent interest as news. The dominant narrative of Twitter is the rise of Twitter, the latest force to displace the mainstream media and roil the world's information economy. Too bad the real story of the company is one of top-to-bottom incompetence.
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By Owen ThomasComment by sample032: "...Twitter faces large bills from cell-phone companies which charge it for forwarding text messages to cell phones" Someone from Meebo told... 10 Responses | Other threads
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exits
Is Yahoo done with search?
Among the many windmills Jerry Yang tilted at in his brief career as Yahoo's CEO was his devotion to Web search. It veered on an obsession for him. It played into his decision to resist Microsoft's offers to shower him with cash, first for his whole company, then for just its search business. Is it a coincidence, then, that Yahoo's top search engineer has left a day after Yang stepped down? A tipster tells us Sean Suchter resigned yesterday, and speculates that he may be joining Microsoft. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by CurtisHippomedon: Am I to believe Yahoo doesn't have an iron clad NDA with its employees preventing them for working for the... 1 Responses | Other threads
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yahoo
Yang's resignation post returns error 999
Can it get any dumber? Jerry Yang's post on Yahoo's corporate blog, "Stepping down," is throwing me an error message that suggests Yahoo has banned the IP address of my Sprint wireless Internet card, but only for their corporate blog. And yet the post is visible on the blog's homepage. It seems too bad to be true: Yang can't even say goodbye right. Update: The "999" error indicates that the server automatically throttled itself to prevent a surge in traffic from taking the site down. Yang's resignation blog post had made the front page of Digg, the news-discussion site. What does it say about Yahoo's competence at building reliable websites if Digg can take down the boss's blog?
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By Paul BoutinComment by deluxe2000plus: BTW: The blog runs on WordPress more » | Other threads
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exits
Jerry Yang and the myth of the founder
It is one of the most heartwarming narratives of Silicon Valley — the founder is abused and evicted by the suits and then returns triumphant. But that's not how it worked out for Jerry Yang, ousted as Yahoo's CEO Monday by a suddenly restive board. Until yesterday, Yang was never much abused by Yahoo's suits; if anything, he was coddled for more than a decade, granted the honorific of "Chief Yahoo" and allowed a say in the Internet portal's strategy. He held a seat on the company's board, and played a role in courting executives like former CEO Terry Semel; but until last year, he never had to operate a business. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by macbeach: I could be wrong, but I don't think people with many millions of dollars in assets lose sleep over losing... 1 Responses | Other threads
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cubicle culture
Yahoos quietly cheer Yang's exit
In an attempt to boost morale at Yahoo, signs showing CEO Jerry Yang with cofounder David Filo went up around the Web giant's Sunnyvale campus recently. They had no measurable effect. News of Yang's resignation, pending a replacement, might do more to cheer up the troops. The signs have proved easily edited to accommodate the news. (Photo by docwho76)
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By Owen ThomasComment by Widget Economist: Michael Arrington on deck for next CEO. more » | Other threads
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exits
5 reasons why Jerry Yang is done at Yahoo
Why is Yahoo looking for a new CEO? Because founder Jerry Yang, in his year and a half on the job, has proven himself incapable of meeting the company's many challenges. Here are five key moments where Yang failed to rise to the occasion: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Rock tha Hizzee: I'm guess you wrote this four months ago and just had to click "publish." 3 Responses | Other threads
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yahoo
Jerry Yang's goodbye letter to Yahoo
How untidy was Jerry Yang's exit from the CEO seat at Yahoo? Here's a clue: Tech blog AllThingsD obtained a copy of Yang's all-hands memo before the PR team had sent it to the staff. It must be genuine, since, like the rest of Yang's memos, it completely lacks capitalization. The founders of Internet companies are too busy, it seems, to reach for the shift key. What Yang does not explain: Why, when he took over as CEO last year, he took pains to say this was not a temporary job. His excuse seems to amount to this: The changes he has made at Yahoo are so amazing, so transformative, that it is a "significantly different company" today which requires someone who can "manage this opportunity to leverage the progress up to this point." Translation: Jerry Yang was the right man to be Yahoo's CEO, until he wasn't. The memo: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Baroness: Bye, you rich dick. Stop abusing the English language now. Your lack of common captilization bespeaks a... 2 Responses | Other threads
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exits
Jerry Yang out as Yahoo CEO
Yahoo founder Jerry Yang is stepping down as CEO, and a search is underway for a replacement after a tumultuous 18 months on the job. Which is curious. In a recent interview, Yang had just told AllThingsD's Kara Swisher, "In this uncertain environment, I think I am absolutely the right person" to lead Yahoo. He must have changed his mind; Swisher reports that the decision was a "mutual" one made by Yang and Yahoo's board of directors. Either Yang was lying to Swisher, or he was deceived about the board's lack of support for him. Executive recruiter Heidrick & Struggles is conducting a search for Yang's replacement. Finding a successor to Yang will be difficult — not because Yang is irreplaceable, but because he has made such a mess of things that it will be hard to persuade a capable executive to risk their reputation fixing it. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by bittergreen: Jerry Yang reminds me of William Hung. 2 Responses | Other threads
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corrections
Pro journalists flub Dell CTO's departure
This morning, I blogged that Dell had "unpublished" CTO Kevin Kettler from the company's executive staff page. Kettler had been planning to leave as part of a reorganization, but his sudden disappearance from the management headshots would indicate a food fight behind the scenes. Truth is, Dell had never put Kettler on its exec staff page. As CTO, he wasn't considered one of the suits. There's a lesson here for me: John Paczkowski, from whom I got the factoid that Kettler had been removed from the management page, can be as wrong as Valleywag when he really tries. Sorry for the error. I have only one question for Paczkowski's publisher, AllThingsD: You guys hiring? (Photo by CNET/Stephen Shankland)
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By Paul BoutinComment by Balousek: Kevin Kettler hasn't been on the Executive Team page in the last year, if ever: [web.archive.org] 1 Responses | Other threads
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facebook
Sheryl Sandberg's assistant quits, too
What does Camille Hart know about Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's plans that we don't? Hart, Sandberg's longtime executive assistant who followed her from Google to Facebook, has left the company after less than a year, we've learned, confirming a note left by commenter insidefb. We can't wait to hear Sandberg's spin on this departure. Remember her now-classic line about the series of executives leaving Facebook this summer? "There is no specific underlying story behind the few execs leaving our company," More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by sggrf: something about facebook is fishy 4 Responses | Other threads
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ashwin navin
Guy who screwed up BitTorrent leaves BitTorrent
BitTorrent cofounder and president Ashwin Navin is leaving the company. He has plans for a startup incubator in San Francisco's Mission District. Good! That means he'll be screwing up far less consequential companies from here on out. Navin deserves credit for persuading Bram Cohen, the creator of the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol, for building a company around it. But that's about it. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Tiki Tonga: Well hell, let's place blame were it belongs - the freakin' idiots who kept investing millions in a company commandeered... 1 Responses | Other threads
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Mark Jung
Vudu CEO to spend more time with his lovely wife
Vudu, which makes a nifty little set-top box that no one is buying, beat the rush by laying off employees in August. Today, an alert tipster notes that CEO Mark Jung has disappeared from the company's management page. Jung's LinkedIn profile has also been updated, putting Vudu in past tense. San Francisco's 7x7 magazine scored this shot of Jung with Mrs. Jung at a fundraiser in May. The boss wants me to draw some big conclusion here. I think it's: Go to the party. You can always work yourself to death when Web 3.0 comes around.
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By Paul BoutinComment by SuttonHizer: In 90 days they will be closing shop.... more » | Other threads
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rumormonger
Yahoos, stock traders wish Jerry Yang rumor were true
When will Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang figure out that everyone wants him to leave? Matt Marshall at VentureBeat aired a rumor that a memo had gone out at 8 a.m. to Yahoo's workforce to expect some kind of "historic announcement" later today — a coded way of saying Yang was on his way out. Marshall wondered if it was true, or just an attempt to manipulate Yahoo's stock price. We called some Yahoos we know, and, alas, no such email exists. Even debunked, the rumor is telling: Sentiment against Yang is so strong that people are willing to believe a rumor he's leaving. (Photo by Yodel Anecdotal)
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By Owen ThomasComment by your creepy uncle: I hate to say it, but I'm thinking about buying Yahoo. You're telling me all those market-leading properties aren't worth... more » | Other threads
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tony fadell
Apple pays off iPod daddy with $8.4 million in stock
Why did Tony Fadell, the driving force behind the iPod, leave Apple? We know this much: Apple is willing to pay him handsomely not to make a fuss on the way out. Digital Daily notes that he's getting paid $300,000 a year through March 24, 2010. That's a 40 percent paycut from his regular salary of $500,009, but the salary is the least of his post-Apple compensation. according to Apple's 10-K filing. If he keeps his gig as as a "special advisor," doesn't sue Apple, and agrees not to recruit Apple employees to any new venture, he'll get 77,500 shares of Apple stock — currently worth a cool $8.4 million.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Haggie: knowing where the bodies are buried sure does pay well... more » | Other threads
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Fri Jul 10
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