Spurned Yahoo boss quits, with a million or so, for his next challenge
Yahoo's former interim chief executive, Ross Levinsohn is leaving after the company passed him over , giving the top job to Marissa Mayer of Google.
Levinsohn: On to the next challenge
In a statement yesterday, he said, "It is time for me to look for the next challenge." Mayer said she "reached out to him" but there was no way that Levinsohn was staying.
His last day is today. He leaves with 67,000 shares of restricted stock, worth $1 million . He will also get 250,000 stock options valued at $15.80 a share and severance payments including a year's salary and bonus.
Yahoo's said the options and stock were compensation for Levinsohn's brief service as interim CEO and president.
Levinsohn, 49, came to Yahoo in 2010 from News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media. At Yahoo, he ran North American ad sales and then its media websites. He ran Yahoo as CEO for 21/2 months following the abrupt departure of then-CEO Scott Thompson, who left after problems with his resumé.
Many thought Levinsohn -- with his background in media and advertising -- was the logical choice to take over as permanent chief executive.
Instead, Yahoo shocked Silicon Valley two weeks ago by hiring Mayer,39, pregnant with her first child, who has degrees in computer science, holds several patents, and who ran various initiatives at Google.