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'''Jerry Yang''' ({{zh-tsp|t=楊致遠|s=杨致远|p=Yáng Zhìyuǎn}}; born ] ]) is a ]<ref>Interview with Jerry Yang</ref> entrepreneur and the ], former ] of ]. '''Jerry Yang''' ({{zh-tsp|t=楊致遠|s=杨致远|p=Yáng Zhìyuǎn}}; born ] ]) is a ]<ref>Interview with Jerry Yang</ref> entrepreneur and the ], former ] of ].


==Early life== ==Early life==

Revision as of 05:39, 21 February 2009

Jerry Yang
Jerry Yang
Born (1968-11-06) November 6, 1968 (age 56)
Taipei, Taiwan
Occupation(s)Co-founder, former CEO, Chief Yahoo Yahoo! Inc
SpouseAkiko Yamazaki

Jerry Yang (simplified Chinese: 杨致远; traditional Chinese: 楊致遠; pinyin: Yáng Zhìyuǎn; born November 6 1968) is a Taiwanese American entrepreneur and the co-founder, former CEO of Yahoo! Inc.

Early life

Born in Taipei, Taiwan on November 6, 1968, Yang moved to San Jose, California at the age of ten, with his mother and brother. His father died when Yang was two. He claimed that despite his mother being an English teacher, he only knew one English word (shoe) on his arrival. Mastering the English language in three years, he was placed into an AP English class.

Yang graduated from Sierramont Middle School, and Piedmont Hills High School, then went on to receive his B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.

Career

While he studied in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, he co-created in April 1994 with David Filo an Internet website consisting of a directory of other websites called "Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web". It was renamed "Yahoo!" (an exclamation). Yahoo became very popular, Yang and Filo realized the business potential and co-founded Yahoo! Inc. in April 1995. They took a leave of absence and postponed their doctoral programs indefinitely.

Yahoo! started off as a web portal with a web directory to providing an extensive range of products and services for online activities, it is now one of the leading internet brands and has the most trafficked network on the internet.

On November 17, 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported that Jerry Yang would step down as CEO as soon as the company found a replacement. He had been scrutinized by many investors, including Carl Icahn, for not increasing revenues and the Yahoo! stock price.

On January 13, 2009, Yahoo has named Silicon Valley veteran Carol Bartz as its new chief executive, effectively replacing Yang. Yang will regain his former position as Chief Yahoo and remain on Yahoo's board of directors.

Personal life

Yang is married to Akiko Yamazaki, who was raised in Costa Rica. She graduated from Stanford University with a degree in industrial engineering. The couple met at the Stanford in Kyoto overseas program in 1992.

Yang is currently on the Board of Directors of Alibaba, the Asian Pacific Fund, Cisco and Yahoo! Japan, and is also on the Stanford University Board of Trustees.

Philanthropy

In February 2007, Jerry Yang and his wife gave USD $75 million to Stanford University, their alma mater, the bulk of which went to building the "Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building."

Criticism

China

Jerry Yang was criticized for a statement regarding the role of Yahoo! in the arrest of mainland Chinese journalist Shi Tao by Chinese authorities.

While in China, Shi Tao used a Yahoo email address to notify a pro-democracy website that the Chinese government ordered the Chinese media not to cover the fifteenth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 on June 4th. Yahoo! provided the Chinese security agencies with the IP addresses of the senders, the recipients and the time of the message. Tao was subsequently convicted for “divulging state secrets abroad.” Yang was heavily criticized and Reporters Without Borders called Yahoo! “a Chinese police informant” whose actions led to the conviction of a journalist and writer.

Jerry Yang declared, "To be doing business in China, or anywhere else in the world, we have to comply with local law." This was controversial, as critics claimed Yahoo! violated international law as well as a 1989 decision by the U.S. Congress to prohibit U.S. companies from selling "crime control and detection" equipment or software to the Chinese Government.

The New York Times reported that political prisoner Wang Xiaoning and other journalists had brought a civil suit against Yahoo for allegedly aiding and abetting the Chinese government which, it was claimed, resulted in torture that included beatings and imprisonment.

More recently Jerry Yang was summoned to Washington to answer for Yahoo's comments regarding its role in the arrests of Shi Tao and other journalists in China.

On November 14, 2007, Yahoo agreed to settle with affected Chinese dissidents, paying them undisclosed compensation. Yang stated, "After meeting with the families, it was clear to me what we had to do to make this right for them, for Yahoo, and for the future." In response, Democratic Congressman Tom Lantos, chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, stated, "It took a tongue-lashing from Congress before these high-tech titans did the right thing and coughed up some concrete assistance for the family of a journalist whom Yahoo had helped send to jail. What a disgrace."

Jerry Yang recently wrote a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice requesting her assistance in freeing the jailed dissidents. In addition, Yang established the Yahoo! Human Rights Fund, a fund to provide "humanitarian and legal support" to online dissidents. One of the first public projects of the fund was financing the establishment of the Laogai Museum, a museum opened by noted Chinese dissident Harry Wu to showcase China's laogai penal system.

This change of heart has not been able to stop the chain of events that began with the arrest of jailed dissident Li Zhi, which resulted in another lawsuit being filed against Yahoo on behalf of Plaintiffs Zheng Cunzhu and Guo Quan who allege the loss of property and a garment business. The complaint alleges, "violation of international law including torture and prolonged detention, as well as unfair business practices, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment and assault."

Microsoft

Yang was also criticized by shareholders for rejecting an offer of $33 a share from Microsoft in May 2008 - Microsoft subsequently walked away from the negotiations. In November 2008 the shares were valued at only $14 and Google also decided not to proceed with commercial search advertising arrangements under negotiation influenced by the concerns voiced by the US authorities regarding the affect on competition in the market. On November 17, Yahoo! announced that Yang will step down as CEO as soon a replacement is named.

See also

References

  1. 10-Q Watch: Yahoo’s Acquisitions; Yang Salary | paidContent.org
  2. Yahoo! Executives Compensation
  3. #524 Jerry Yang - Forbes.com
  4. Interview with Jerry Yang
  5. Schlender, Brent (2000-03-06). "How A Virtuoso Plays The Web Eclectic, inquisitive, and academic, Yahoo's Jerry Yang reinvents the role of the entrepreneur". Fortune. Cable News Network. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  6. Yahoo! Inc. - Company History
  7. Yang to Step Down as Yahoo CEO, The Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2008
  8. , BBC News, January 14, 2009
  9. Yahoo to replace Yang as CEO, ending rocky reign, Yahoo Finance, November 17, 2008
  10. Yahoo! Inc. - Management Team
  11. http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2008/september10/hennessy-091008.html
  12. Xue Li: Human Rights Lawyer Questions Yahoo!’s Aid to China in Arresting a Journalist,Epoch Times, Sep 23, 2005
    Obeying Orders, Washington Post, September 18, 2005
  13. Chinese political prisoner sues in U.S. court, New York Times, April 18, 2007
    Chinese political
  14. Yahoo summoned to Washington over Chinese arrests,c/net news blog, Oct 16, 2007
  15. Boudreau, John (2007-11-07). "Lawmaker scolds Yahoo: 'Morally you are pygmies'". Mercury News. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  16. Kopytoff, Verne (2007-11-14). "Yahoo settles with jailed Chinese journalists". SFGate. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  17. "Rice presses China on jailed dissidents". International Herald Tribune. 2007-02-27. Retrieved 2007-02-27.
  18. "Press Release: Yahoo! Inc Reaches Settlement On Lawsuit Works To Establish Human Rights Fund". Yahoo!. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  19. Fowler, Geoffrey A (12 November 2008). "Yahoo-Sponsored Chinese Human Rights Museum Opens in Washington". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  20. Mills, Elinor (2007-02-27). "Yahoo sued by jailed dissidents again". CNET News. Retrieved 2007-02-27.

External links

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