Business

Yahoo searching for several new board candidates, sources say

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Yahoo Inc. is searching for several new board candidates to replace possible outgoing directors and has hired executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. to assist in that effort, people familiar with the matter said.

The search for board candidates is aimed at possibly replacing directors who have been on the board for a long time, the people said.

Director Patti Hart is leading the search, the people said. She also led the CEO search that concluded with the appointment this week of Scott Thompson as Yahoo’s new CEO. She heads the board’s nominating and corporate governance committee.

Board members including Chairman Roy Bostock and Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang have been criticized by shareholders who have complained about Yahoo’s handling of a review of its future and other issues, including its decision to rebuff a 2008 takeover offer when its shares were worth much more. Yahoo has said its strategic review is “designed to enhance shareholder value and promote growth and innovation at Yahoo.” On Friday, a representative for Yahoo declined to comment.

Activist investor Dan Loeb’s Third Point LLC in recent months has threatened a proxy fight against Yahoo. In a November letter to the board, he said he wanted two board seats. In a September letter when Loeb initially disclosed Third Point’s 5.1 percent stake in Yahoo, he called for the resignations of Bostock as well as directors Arthur Kern, Vyomesh Joshi and Sue James. He later echoed the same regarding Yang.

It’s not clear if Yahoo’s search for directors relates to Loeb’s protestations.

Yahoo’s current search for new board members has been mulled for a while and began in earnest after the hunt for a new chief executive ended, one of the people said. Another person said a number of senior executives in various fields have been approached.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal