Yahoo! needs balancing act
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (Thestreet) — New Yahoo! CEO Scott Thompson says that a balancing act is needed to help reinvigorate the Internet giant.
Thompson was unveiled as Yahoo!’s new CEO before market open on Wednesday, ending a fourmonth search that followed the ouster of his controversial predecessor, Carol Bartz. Thompson most recently served as president of Paypal, a unit of ebay.
Speaking during a conference call with analysts on Wednesday, Thompson explained that he wants to improve Yahoo!’s ability to serve both users and advertising partners.
“One of the great things that we were able to achieve at Paypal was balancing the consumer need with the merchant need,” he explained. “I feel very strongly that that balancing is what we need to have at Yahoo!”
If Yahoo! can get this formula right, added Thompson, the company will be creating value for its shareholders and customers.
Thompson enjoyed a stellar tenure during his time at Paypal, growing the mobile payments business’s revenue to $4 billion in 2011. Paypal may even become larger than its parent company within the next two years.
Thompson, however, will now be under intense pressure to revitalize Yahoo! Shares of the Sunnyvale, Calif.based firm, which currently trade just under $16, have been stagnant since 2008 when Microsoft failed in its bid to buy the company.
Thompson, who does not assume his new role until Jan. 9, was unable to outline his specific plans for tackling, say Google in the display advertising space. Nonetheless, the incoming CEO pointed to the Yahoo!’s trove of information as a key weapon in his arsenal. With more than 700 million unique users, Thompson explained that Yahoo! has a huge amount of information at its disposal.
“I feel certain that that wealth of data will be exploitable for the next generation of products and services,” he said, in response to an analyst’s question. “My instinct says that down in that data we will be able to compete and innovate (in ways) that the world hasn’t seen yet.”
Thompson said public perception of Yahoo! does not reflect the company’s abilities. “I am personally convinced that the core business assets of Yahoo! are stronger than people believe at this point,” he said.