Interim CEO Ross Levinsohn Leaves Yahoo

Ross Levinsohn, the man who served as the interim CEO of Yahoo for two months and was expected to keep the position, has left the company, two weeks after he was replaced by ex-Google executive Marissa Mayer.

Levinsohn had taken over the company in March, after previous CEO Scott Thompson, was fired over including a non-existent computer science degree in his CV and regulatory findings.

Temporary arrangement

Before Yahoo, Levinsohn was a top executive at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. His previous experience also includes running an advertising business and managing Fuse Capital – a $1.5 billion (£957 million) investment fund.

Levinsohn joined Yahoo in October 2010, to work as the executive vice president of American operations under then-CEO Carol Bartz, who was later fired.

Levinsohn will leave the company as a very wealthy man. According to Reuters, he will receive severance payments outlined in his 2010 offer letter and 2011 severance agreement, plus an equity award of 67,000 restricted stock units and 250,000 stock options, currently valued at around $5 million.

“Ross has done a terrific job during his time at Yahoo,” said a Yahoo spokeswoman. “We wish him all the best.”

On 16 July, Yahoo named longtime Google engineer and executive Marissa Mayer as its eighth chief executive. Mayer was one of the first 20 employees hired by Google and its first female software developer. According to reports, she will earn around £45 million in five years, if she manages to stay with the company for that long.

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