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Jerry Yang resigns from Yahoo's board of directors

Yahoo's former CEO and co-founder appears to be leaving the company for good with his resignation from Yahoo's board of directors.
Written by Rachel King, Contributor

Just a few months after the sudden (and forced) departure of former CEO Carol Bartz, we have another major resignation from Yahoo.

This time it is former CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang, who announced his resignation from the Yahoo board of directors -- as well as all other positions within the company -- effective immediately.

Yang wrote in a letter to the Yahoo board chairman Roy Bostock:

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! As I leave the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago, I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future.

Yang also resigned from the boards of Yahoo Japan Corporation and the Alibaba Group, effective today.

Yahoo has had a major reshuffle at the top lately, most recently with the hiring of PayPal's chief executive Scott Thompson as its new CEO.

The statement did not include any reasoning as to why Yang has departed Yahoo (besides the very nondescript "other interests"), although it appears to be spun in more a positive light -- at least when you compare it to Bartz's firing over the phone in September.

However, earlier this month it was reported that Yahoo was looking for new blood on its board and replace "possible outgoing directors."

The timing of Yang's departure is too coincidental for this tidbit to not refer to him, but does this mean that Yahoo will be losing (or axing) more board members?

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