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News Corp COO Chernin not keen on top Yahoo job
News Corp chief operating officer (COO) Peter Chernin is not interested in taking over as chief executive officer (CEO) of Yahoo Inc, according to a source familiar with the matter.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:53 December 6, 2008
New York: News Corp chief operating officer (COO) Peter Chernin is not interested in taking over as chief executive officer (CEO) of Yahoo Inc, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Chernin, whose contract with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp expires at the end of the year, has been in negotiations over a new contract with the international media conglomerate.
Analysts and media industry observers had been floating his name as a replacement to Jerry Yang, who agreed to resign as CEO of the internet company last month once the company found a replacement.
Lips are sealed
Yahoo spokesman Brad Williams declined to comment on whether Yahoo's board had approached Chernin.
Chernin's lack of interest in the job was first reported by All Things Digital, which cited a source. All Things Digital is a blog owned by Dow Jones & Co, a unit of News Corp.
Other names that have been suggested for the Yahoo CEO slot include Jonathan Miller, former chief executive of Time Warner Inc's AOL, former Yahoo COO Dan Rosens-weig and current Yahoo President Susan Decker.
Yahoo co-founder Yang on November 17 agreed to give up his CEO post after investors criticised him for management missteps. The company said at the time that it was hiring executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles.
A source at the time said the process could take up to 12 weeks. That could have made it difficult for Chernin to step into the Yahoo CEO role, since his employment contract with News Corp says he would have to give six months' notice of his resignation if he left to become CEO of another company.
In May, Microsoft Corp withdrew a $47.5 billion offer to buy Yahoo.
Struggle
Yahoo's core online display advertising business has also suffered as advertisers scaled back spending amid the worsening economic slump.
Yahoo has lost market share to Google Inc, which earlier this year pulled out of a search advertising partnership with Yahoo on fears the US government would block the deal.
Yahoo's shares fell one per cent in after-hours trading after closing up 5.5 per cent to $11.66 on the Nasdaq stock market. News Corp shares fell less than one per cent to $8.20 in after-hours trading after rising 5.4 per cent to close at $8.26 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.
Yahoo has lost market share to search engine rival Google Inc, which earlier this year pulled out of a search advertising partnership with Yahoo on fears the US government would blockthe deal.
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