Marissa Mayer Leaves Google, Becomes Yahoo's New CEO

Someone's going to need a new wardrobe—one with less primary colors and more purple.

Marissa Mayer, Google's No. 20 employee and first female engineer, will become Yahoo's new President and Chief Executive Officer effective Tuesday, July 17, the Sunnyvale company announced in a press release Monday. Yahoo has averaged one CEO a year for the last five years and Mayer's appointment could revitalized a fractured company—at least Wall Street thinks so due to its positive reaction.

"I am honored and delighted to lead Yahoo!, one of the internet's premier destinations for more than 700 million users," said Mayer, 37. "I look forward to working with the Company's dedicated employees to bring innovative products, content, and personalized experiences to users and advertisers all around the world."

According to the Associated Press, Yahoo first contact Mayer on June 18th about the position and Mayer didn't take it too seriously. But Mayer, a Masters graduate of Stanford University in Computer Science specializing in artificial intelligence and an inventor on several patents in artificial intelligence and interface design, doesn't shy away from challenges.

"Yahoo!'s products will continue to enhance our partnerships with advertisers, technology and media companies, while inspiring and delighting our users," she said. "There is a lot to do and I can't wait to get started."

Prior to her departure from Mountain View-based Google, Mayer led the Local, Maps, and Location Services for Google, which included the Google Maps, Google Earth, Zagat, Street View, and local search, for desktop and mobile.

Mayer's experience at Google has had more successes and than failures. As vice president of search product and user experience she managed successful products such as Google Search, News and Gmail—creating much of the "look and feel" of the Google user experience, according to the Yahoo press release.

However, she also launched iGoogle—a product that never took off with users. Google recently announced it would eliminate it.

"The Board of Directors unanimously agreed that Marissa's unparalleled track record in technology, design, and product execution makes her the right leader for Yahoo! at this time of enormous opportunity," said Fred Amoroso, Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Mayer will also serve as a member of the Board of Directors of Yahoo.

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