According to this Reuters story (on Y! Finance):
Yahoo Inc. (NasdaqNM:YHOO - News) on Tuesday said that the venture capital investor who was the first outside director to serve on its board had stepped down and would be replaced by a video game industry veteran. Yahoo said Michael Moritz, a partner in Sequoia Capital, was leaving the board to focus on "other business and investment opportunities." According to Sequoia Capital's Web site, Moritz serves as a director of 11 other companies.
One of those 11 other companies is Google. There is a bit of speculation that he's left Yahoo because of Google. Either there's a conflict of interest or things are ramping up there and he needs to spend more time with Google (IPO?).
I don't buy it. I think it's like this. Mike Moritz has been affiliated with Yahoo for a long time. He, David, and Jerry go back--all the way to some of Yahoo's initial funding.
Directors don't stay around forever. Eventually they move on. It's that simple, in my mind.
Heck, founders eventually move on, too. Considering how log we've been around, it's probably impressive (to an outsider) that David and Jerry are still at Yahoo and involved in the day-to-day business. As a Yahoo employee, though, it makes complete sense. To a lot of us, those two still represent Yahoo. It's hard to imagine either of them elsewhere.
Personal trivia: About a year or two ago, I actually had Mike Moritz contact me to ask some questions about a company that Sequoia was evaluating as a possible investment. It was a little odd--talking to someone that legendary and powerful. Bonus points if you can guess the company.
Posted by jzawodn at March 11, 2003 09:30 PM
