Yahoo appoints new chief executive

Yahoo has appointed Paypal president Scott Thompson as its new chief executive, almost four months after it fired former CEO Carol Bartz.

Mr Thompson will take up the role on January 9th, with interim CEO Tim Morse returning to his role as chief financial officer.

Prior to his current role in Paypal, Mr Thompson was senior vice president and chief technology officer of the firm. He has also served as executive vice president of technology solutions at Visa subsidiary Inovant, and chief information officer of Barclays Global Investors.

"Scott brings to Yahoo a proven record of building on a solid foundation of existing assets and resources to reignite innovation and drive growth, precisely the formula we need at Yahoo," said chairman Roy Bostock.

"His deep understanding of online businesses combined with his team building and operational capabilities will restore the energy, focus, and momentum necessary to grow the core business and deliver increased value for our shareholders."

Mr Thompson welcomed his new role, describing the company as "an industry icon".

"Yahoo has a rich history and a solid foundation to build on, and its continued user engagement is one of the many reasons for my enthusiasm," he said, adding that his immediate focus would be on working directly with Yahoo staff to get a clearer understanding of what advertisers and publishers need.

"Clearly, speed is important but we will attack both the opportunity ahead and the competitive challenges with an appropriate balance of urgency and thoughtfulness," he said.

Mr Bostock said the company would continue its strategic review to identify areas of opportunity, specific investments or disposal of assets.

The chairman fired Ms Bartz in early September, following a unanimous vote of Yahoo's eight independent directors.

The company has struggled in recent years against competition from rivals Google and Facebook.In 2008, Yahoo rejected an unsolicited takeover bid from Microsoft worth about $44 billion.

Yahoo recently has been discussing slashing its stakes in China's Alibaba Group and its Japanese affiliate as part of a share deal worth about $17 billion, according to sources familiar with the situation. Alibaba has also hired a Washington lobbying firm in a sign that the Chinese e-commerce company would be willing to make a bid for all of Yahoo in the event that talks to unwind their Asian partnership fail.

Additional reporting: Reuters