Web 2.0 Summit : Yang’s Defense

Jerry Yang defends his CEO position in this year’s Web 2.0 Summit with John Bartelle (Federated Media Publishing). Bartelle obviously grilled the CEO during their 45-minute interview at the said summit. Yang displayed a relaxed front smiling and joking his way through the audience but anyone can tell he is keeping his ego safe. As always defending himself that he has no regrets that he took on the job as CEO.

Yahoo has faced tough times lately and through all these, Jerry Yang stood on his grounds and assume CEO ,believing its the only way he can make a dream come true for the company. Google announced it was pulling out of an ad partnership with Yahoo to avoid a federal antitrust suit. When Microsoft attempted to take over, Yang did’nt wanted it. “I wanted to make a change at Yahoo that I believe I can make,” he said. “That’s a dream that I felt I could achieve by being CEO, and that’s still the dream today. And that’s something that gets lost underneath all these external issues.”

“I didn’t make the decision of being the CEO lightly,”

“I wanted to make a change at Yahoo that I believe I can make,” he said. “That’s a dream that I felt I could achieve by being CEO, and that’s still the dream today. And that’s something that gets lost underneath all these external issues.”

“I don’t regret any minute of it. It might not be the most fun thing, but I feel like I only know how to operate by caring and being passionate about Yahoo. I just feel that’s the reason that I’m here.”

“What’s happened?” Bartelle asked,

“Which part?” Yang retorted

“Thirty-three dollars a share, Jerry. What happened?”

He said the company was willing to sell to Microsoft at the right price

“You didn’t want it to happen,” Bartelle fired back.

“I don’t have an ego,” Yang replied

Adding further, “At the end of the day, we believed the deal was going to be done, and that a deal was not that far apart and they walked away…I know [the failure of the deal] is something that I’ll be labeled with.”

Yang always pointed out at the entire interview duration that he was “disappointed” by Google’s decision. “We were working with the Department of Justice to get this deal done,” he said. “We also felt that Google clearly did not want to stay in the deal, and we were disappointed with that.”

Asked why google pulled out of the deal, Yang refused to give clear answer and simply passed the answer to google themselves directly though obviously both parties should have answer as to why they concluded to such decision.

“Are you buying AOL,” Battelle probed in.

“I can’t talk about that. If I tell you, I’d have to kill you.” Yang smilingly replied

Said Battelle, “I think I’ll take the bullet for this audience.”

“I dont want to be the follower so Id have to take the other path.” “If you’re not in the game to win, you should’nt be in the game.” “We believe we are innovating…we believe we are changing…”

Now the countdown is starting for Yang. If Yahoo’s position in the business is’nt much encountering any problems as the he tried to defend, then it should be on fire for the change the CEO is referring to.

The conversation ended with Bartelle wishing the CEO good luck in the coming years of Yahoo under Yangs leadership. That is if there will be coming years for Yahoo. The CEO has strong principle to win the game and I surely hope he is’nt taking the wrong strategy.