Good for Ross that he got a payout. Ross is a terrific guy - I worked with him at Altavista - but I can imagine a real culture clash between his style and Marissa's. Love to see what he gets up to next.
He would have made a great CEO of Yahoo, better than the predecessors. But a completely different style than Marissa.
Marissa is a fascinating choice. She'll shake the place up,
all metrics and data driven, make huge changes. It could be a big success, or the place may be too brittle. Either way, something to watch.
We were playing soccer and I was the team captain. I picked the team, but no one would pass me to the ball, so I quit and went home.
(In seriousness though, it's hard to make any opinion on this decision without an actual statement from Levinsohn, which I seriously think he should make. Because at the moment, my perspective is that he just threw all of his toys out of the pram). And also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know of any profession where an "ACTING"-position would then have a high fulfillment rate for going on and taking the actual job.
Teaching for example, you get acting heads all the time, when the deputy steps up, but (almost) never will the acting head secure a permanent position. (Perhaps it's different in other countries). And yes, I agree with Chuck below.
You can be a bit more charitable than that. Being the acting CEO and then not the real CEO is like dating someone, proposing to them, and then have them get engaged to someone else. Sure you can remain friends but its always uncomfortable around the fiance, the questions "What did they have they I don't?", the whispers, the pity.
People, who are professionals, give room to the new leadership, if they were the former leadership they do that by leaving.
It's sad for Yahoo that he's leaving, as his experience really would be complementary to Mayer's (media, advertising, familiar with Yahoo!, ...). I'm sure he felt bad on being passed over for CEO, but he would have been great as head of the media part of the business, which IMO is worth at least half of the CEO's compensation.
He would have made a great CEO of Yahoo, better than the predecessors. But a completely different style than Marissa.
Marissa is a fascinating choice. She'll shake the place up, all metrics and data driven, make huge changes. It could be a big success, or the place may be too brittle. Either way, something to watch.