WebProNews

Tag: personnel

  • Google Loses Chinese Exec To Baidu

    It’s almost a waste of space to state that Google is a good employer; the fact is widely known, and people all over the world apply there on a regular basis.  However, in a move that may speak to how the search giant is faring in China, an important research executive has gone to work for Baidu after quitting Google within the past couple weeks.

    GoogleKathrin Hille, who’s based in Beijing, got in contact with both companies and confirmed, "Baidu said Wang Jing had joined the company as a vice-president in charge of engineering.  Google said Mr Wang quit as engineering director earlier this month."

    This is bad news for Google.  It would make sense if search people left its Chinese operation, given that everything’s been routed through Hong Kong.  Google’s advertising and research efforts were supposed to continue the same as usual, though, and it’s not as if the company cut anyone’s salary due to its disagreement with the Chinese government.

    Wang Jin’s decision to leave would just appear to be a reflection on Google’s worsening reputation in the region, then.

    Google will have to hope (and/or take action to ensure) that this doesn’t represent the start of a trend, with more and more employees leaving to work for Baidu or other Chinese competitors.

  • Yahoo’s CTO Gives Eight-Week Notice

    Believe it or not, another very important Yahoo exec has decided to leave the company.  Ari Balogh, who serves as Yahoo’s chief technology officer and executive vice president of products, has announced that June 3rd will be his last day.

    Obviously, this represents a blow to Yahoo in many ways.  Balogh is just one of 11 people Yahoo considers to be part of its top management team, and the man has an impressive past, considering that he holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University and spent some time at VeriSign.

    To make matters worse, Yahoo hasn’t officially found a replacement for Balogh yet.

    Things aren’t as bad as they might appear, though.  For starters, Balogh’s claim that he’s leaving Yahoo for personal reasons actually rings true; Kara Swisher’s reported that he’ll in fact be moving his family to Greece this summer.  So this isn’t a case of a high-ranking insider abandoning ship.

    Also, even if nothing’s been decided for sure, rumor has it that former Microsoft exec Blake Irving will replace Balogh, perhaps giving Yahoo some special insights about its new partner.

    Balogh’s promised to help with whatever sort of transition takes place, anyway, and Yahoo’s wished him well in an official statement.

  • Ex-Ask CEO Joins LinkedIn’s Board Of Directors

    At least in terms of percentages, LinkedIn’s board of directors expanded by quite a bit today.  Indeed, it grew 25 percent thanks to the addition of Skip Battle, who served as the CEO of Ask.com between early 2001 and the middle of 2005.

    Battle’s resume is an interesting one, even leaving aside that stint at Ask.  He spent almost 30 years in different positions at Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting, demonstrating a greater-than-average ability to stick with a company and succeed there.

    Now, though, Battle’s spreading his time around a lot more.  Counting his new role with LinkedIn, he’s on seven different companies’ boards of directors, and is chairman of the board at an eight organization.  Plus, Battle’s a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute.

    This appears to be a man whose advice is much sought after, then, and it makes sense that LinkedIn would add a seat to its board to accommodate him.  Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn’s CEO, explained the move by stating, "We are positioning the company for significant growth this year and over the long term.  Skip Battle brings a unique combination of consumer web and enterprise experience that will help guide our company."

    LinkedIn’s official release on the matter also indicated that the company will about double the size of its staff this year.

  • Facebook Names Manager Of Custom Data Center

    Facebook moves fast.  On January 21st, the company broke ground on a custom data center in Prineville, Oregon.  Now, it’s named the facility’s manager, and proven with a handful of photos that construction is coming along quite nicely.

    Let’s start with the personnel announcement.  Ken Patchett has worked for Compaq, Microsoft, and most recently, Google, which pretty much establishes his competency.  Also, he’s dedicated enough to Facebook (and to his family) to take the job at the Prineville data center while allowing one of his children to finish up high school in Hood River.

    One other important point is that Facebook has stated that Patchett is the data center’s manager "effective immediately," which takes us to the subject of how quickly it’s being built.

    The photo you can see below says a lot.  The data center isn’t supposed to be open until early next year, and of course, there’s a lot more to the setup process than building a roof and four walls, but it’s at least hard to imagine that Facebook’s running behind schedule.

    Hat tip goes to Rich Miller.  We’ll try to provide further updates as Facebook moves beyond the concrete-and-steel stage and starts to bring in servers.

  • Yahoo Arranges Transfer Of 200 Employees To Microsoft

    Although it’s unlikely that anyone’s printing up new business cards just yet, it looks like Microsoft and Yahoo have decided how to deal with the post-partnership personnel situation in at least one country.  According to a Yahoo exec, about 200 of Yahoo’s engineers in India will switch companies.

    Shouvick Mukherjee, who lays claim to the title "VP & CEO Yahoo India R&D," explained to Chiranjoy Sen, "Two hundred of our best-of-breed talent involved in search infrastructure technology will be offered options with Microsoft."

    As for the timing of this move, Mukherjee then continued, "This will happen over the next one year . . ."

    It’s a good sign that things are being planned out so far in advance.  As we saw during the recession, sudden announcements regarding workforces can hurt morale and make for bad PR; this approach to transferring employees should be much better for all involved.  It also signals that Microsoft and Yahoo know exactly what they want to do in technical terms.

    No one’s supposed to interpret this move as a white flag, though.  Mukherjee said, "Yahoo and Microsoft will compete at all product levels, including those in search."

  • Yahoo’s Chief Technologist Starts New Gig

    It may sound painfully dumb to point out that Yahoo’s technology is important to the company, but there you have it.  Unfortunately for the organization, that connection also makes it seem somewhat problematic that Yahoo’s Chief Technologist has moved on.

    Yahoo LogoBenchmark Capital announced today that Sam Pullara, who was Yahoo’s Chief Technologist, has joined it as an Entrepreneur in Residence.  That means Pullara, EVP Ash Patel, and SVP of Revenue Joanne Bradford have all left Yahoo in the space of a week.

    It’s a hard to put that in a positive light; you’d have to look long and hard to find a company eager to lose that many senior people over the course of just a few days.

    Things may not be as bad as they appear, though.  As we explained on Monday, Bradford‘s something of a job-hopper.  Patel really intends to spend more time with his family.  And now, Pullara’s new job will be different enough from his position at Yahoo that it doesn’t look like he was just abandoning ship.

    Then here’s one more fact Yahoo can take comfort in: Google lost an employee today, too.  Robin Wauters reported this afternoon that Senior Product Manager Gummi Hafsteinsson has gone to work for an app company called Siri.

  • Confirmed: Yahoo’s SVP Of Revenue To Quit

    Joanne Bradford started at Yahoo about a year and a half ago, assuming the title "Senior Vice President, U.S. Revenue and Market Development."  Now, a fresh report’s indicated that the high-ranking exec is on her way out again, ready to take a position at Demand Media.

    Yahoo LogoKara Swisher wrote earlier, "According to several sources . . . Bradford is planning on leaving the Internet giant to take a new position as Chief Revenue Officer of online content upstart Demand Media."  And Swisher (and her sources) are usually spot-on about these things.

    Yahoo’s likely being dealt a major blow, then, considering what an important role Bradford plays at the company.  While almost all departures have theoretical financial repercussions – you have to figure everyone contributes to the bottom line in some way – Bradford’s position over ad sales means she has a direct influence.

    Also, Bradford’s resume suggests that she’s good at her job, having spent time at Microsoft, Spot Runner, and BusinessWeek before heading to Yahoo.

    Still, this development doesn’t have to represent a complete disaster for Yahoo.  As you might have guessed after reading the last paragraph, Bradford doesn’t always stay in one place for too long – she only spent about seven months at SpotRunner, for example – so her move may not say much about Yahoo’s situation.

    UPDATE: Yahoo responded to a question sent via email by stating, "Joanne Bradford has decided to leave Yahoo! to pursue a new opportunity. Joanne will be working with the team over the coming weeks to enable a smooth transition."

  • Google Hires XML Co-Inventor

    Google Hires XML Co-Inventor

    Today, Tim Bray started working for Google, and had the search giant just put out a one-sentence press release stating this fact, the development would be worth reporting.  But what makes this move especially noteworthy is that Bray announced it in a 1,260-word blog post mentioning an absolute hatred of the iPhone.

    Bray is a rather important person in a lot of tech circles.  Two interesting details regarding his accomplishments: he’s the co-inventor of XML, and spent several years serving on the W3C Technical Architecture Group.

    Here’s what the respected developer had to say about the iPhone, though: "The iPhone vision of the mobile Internet’s future omits controversy, sex, and freedom, but includes strict limits on who can know what and who can say what.  It’s a sterile Disney-fied walled garden surrounded by sharp-toothed lawyers. The people who create the apps serve at the landlord’s pleasure and fear his anger. . . .  I hate it."

    In turn, Bray’s a huge fan of Google’s mobile operating system.  He wrote, "The reason I’m here is mostly Android.  Which seems to me about as unambiguously a good thing as the tangled wrinkly human texture of the Net can sustain just now."

    So it looks like the Android-iPhone war is about to get a lot more fierce.  Although for what it’s worth, Bray was careful to say that his opinions don’t necessarily reflect his new employer’s stance on anything.

  • Facebook To Position Public Policy Experts In D.C.

    It looks like Facebook will soon begin trying harder to bend the ears of our nation’s leaders.  Listings for a public policy manager and public policy associate have both been posted on the social network’s "Open Positions" page, and Facebook’s decided that these people will work in Washington, D.C.

    This isn’t a simple matter of having a couple of folks sit around, answering questions and maybe defending the company when necessary.  Facebook wants the new hires to be quite active.

    The public policy manager will be expected to "monitor legislative and regulatory matters at the state governmental level, participate in federal policy discussions, and lead company’s interactions with consumer organizations," according to the official listing.  He (or she) is supposed to "[b]uild coalitions to advance policy goals of Facebook," too.

    As for the associate, this individual is meant to attend Congressional Committees, deal with nonprofits, and help with Facebook’s "election and voter action activities," whatever those may be.  Plus have a sense of humor that his or her boss isn’t required to possess.

    Anyway, Cecilia Kang, who deserves a hat tip, noted, "Those jobs would bring Facebook’s staff in Washington to five.  It recently hired journalist Andrew Noyes for public policy communications and Tim Sparapani from the ACLU, who is now director of public policy.  Adam Conner began the office and deals with lobbying and policy issues including privacy."

  • Yahoo Mobile Europe Manager Quits

    Almost exactly one month ago, the Yahoo Mobile Blog launched, and nine new posts have been made since, signaling that the company really is interested in mobile tech.  Unfortunately, one of Yahoo’s mobile execs has decided to part ways with it at this juncture.

    Mitch Lazar, Managing Director and General Manager of Yahoo Mobile Europe, is leaving Yahoo after about five years.  According to Tricia Duryee, Lazar admitted in a message to some colleagues that he doesn’t know what he’ll do next, either, which makes the situation look rather worse for Yahoo.

    Still, Lazar tried to portray Yahoo (along with himself) in a positive light.  He wrote, "We didn’t have much of a business when I joined, but we now have over 100 mobile search and ad deals around the globe with the genesis of those beginning right here in the UK."

    Lazar even said, "Between those and the distribution deals with Nokia and the OEMs we really created an exciting leadership position for the company."

    There’s no word yet on who will replace Lazar within Yahoo.  Given the way Carol Bartz has been trying to simplify the company, it’s possible we’ll just see some other execs’ responsibilities shuffled as a way of filling the hole.

    UPDATE: A Yahoo representative was good enough to email WebProNews, and he wrote, "Mitch Lazar is leaving Yahoo! to pursue other opportunities and we wish him the best in his future endeavors. Rich Riley, SVP, Yahoo! Europe, is now responsible for Yahoo!’s mobile efforts across Europe."

  • Twitter Reaches 140-Employee Milestone

    Twitter’s long been associated with the number 140; it is, of course, this number that defines how the site’s users communicate with each other.  And the number now represents the size of the company’s payroll, too, as Twitter’s hired its 140th employee.

    Biz Stone announced the milestone late yesterday by simply tweeting, "Today we are celebrating our 140th employee at Twitter!"  No details about whether the newest staff member is a janitor, programming whiz, or high-ranking exec then followed.

    Still, Kim-Mai Cutler was able to list some recent talent acquisitions and make an observation about Twitter’s growth rate.  She named "Robin Sloan, who handled strategy at Al Gore’s Current TV; a few developers, Michael Busch and Dan Webb; and a user interface designer Mark Otto, among others.  They also hired Alexa Lee, who used to produce videos for VentureBeat."

    Cutler then continued, "There are many, many others but the hiring pace represents a level unseen at the company.  During the summer in July and August, the company had between 60 and 70 employees."

    The interesting thing will be to see where Twitter goes from here.  It’s possible that the company will choose to stick with 140 employees for a while out of a sense of humor.

    Also, even though Twitter recently acquired a new space for its headquarters, said space only measures 31,000 square feet, meaning employees probably don’t have tons of room.  With 140 employees, an even split (ignoring the need for a reception area, bathrooms, conference rooms, etc.) would leave each individual just a 15 foot by 15 foot area.

  • Twitter Puts Pixar’s CFO On Payroll

    Twitter Puts Pixar’s CFO On Payroll

    Twitter’s at last found someone to be its chief financial officer, and the man appears to be more than qualified for the position.  Ali Rowghani actually comes to Twitter from Pixar, where he also held the title of CFO.

    Pixar is, of course, the popular animation studio responsible for movies like Toy Story, The Incredibles, and WALL-E.  Disney bought it in 2006 for $7.4 billion, and Rowghani was present at the time, having started at Pixar in 2001.

    Now, we’ll get to see what he can do with one of the Web’s more fashionable social sites.  But it’s important to note that the company’s COO has said Twitter’s not going public this year, and it’s also been a while since there have been any rumors concerning acquisitions.

    Then here’s one other interesting point: Rowghani might not be Twitter’s biggest fan, since as the screenshot below shows, he’s not what anyone would call a heavy user.

    Anyway, Rowghani should officially join Twitter in March, according to Reuters, and CEO Evan Williams said that they’re all concentrating on "creating value for our users and capturing the financial opportunities that result from it."

  • MySpace’s CEO Out

    Owen Van Natta, who only joined MySpace in April of last year, will no longer serve as its CEO.  Reports indicate that he’s in fact been fired, and MySpace has at least confirmed that Jason Hirschhorn and Mike Jones, who reported to Van Natta, are becoming co-presidents.

    Owen Van NattaThis series of developments comes as a big surprise.  Just one week ago, rumor had it that Hirschhorn might leave MySpace due to tension with Van Natta.  But according to Kara Swisher, News Corp. Chief Digital Officer Jon Miller then became involved, and after talking to all three men, wound up sacking the CEO.

    So let’s discuss MySpace’s new co-presidents.  Before becoming MySpace’s chief product officer, Hirschhorn filled executive positions at both Sling Media and MTV.  Jones founded Userplane prior to becoming MySpace’s chief operating officer, and also worked for AOL following an acquisition.

    Both men have done well at MySpace, too.  Miller stated with respect to Van Natta’s semi-replacements (remember the difference in titles), "Mike and Jason have demonstrated true leadership in their operational and product guidance, respectively, and I have the utmost confidence in both of them to lead MySpace into its next chapter."

    Hirschhorn and Jones said, "We joined MySpace last April with very a specific set of goals in mind, and are anxious to continue working together to make those goals a reality.  This business is now pointed in the right direction, and we have a great team of employees that will continue to push MySpace closer to its potential as the place where people go to be discovered and to discover great content."

  • Yahoo Music Gets Former Universal Exec As New Chief

    The music industry is a big business; there must be hundreds of thousands of performers and managers in the world.  But there are just four major labels – Warner, EMI, Sony, and Universal – and so Yahoo seems to have made a rather significant hire by securing a former Universal exec as the head of Yahoo Music.

    Jeff Bronikowski worked at Universal for almost 12 years, most recently serving as its senior vice president of business development.  He apparently did a good job while there, too, earning six recommendations on LinkedIn.

    Now, Bronikowski’s told Billboard, "I feel like Yahoo, while certainly it has declined a bit from its prominence as the No. 1 music destination, I think there are tremendous assets there and Yahoo is committed to making it a premier music destination again."

    Also, in terms of a (possible) plan for reaching that point, he added, "It never was that big of an on-demand music streaming service. . . .  I haven’t even started yet, but thinking about where it’s been, where it is now, and where I’d like to take it . . . I think that’s going to be a big focus.  It’s packaging content in a way that’s most appealing to free, ad-supported uses."

    For the record: the previous Yahoo Music chief didn’t exactly get the boot.  Michael Spiegelman has become responsible for product strategy and development for all of Yahoo’s entertainment products.

    Related Articles:

    > Misleading Ad: Twitter is Hiring

    > Twitter Adds New Exec Talent

    > Twitter Obtains Lead Lawyer From Google

  • MySpace, Chief Product Officer May Part Ways

    A high-ranking MySpace executive might be ready to depart, according to a new report.  Rumor has it that Chief Product Officer Jason Hirschhorn, who’s been with the company for less than a year, is making his way towards the exit.

    This story appears to deserve some heavy disclaimers; since it began to spread, Hirschhorn wrote on his MySpace page, "i love fiction," and classified his mood as "amused."

    He also linked to a clip of Philip Seymour Hoffman lecturing about gossip (as Father Flynn in the movie Doubt) from both his MySpace and Twitter accounts.

    Still, more than a few people have indicated that the exec is parting ways with MySpace.  Jason Kincaid, who’s generally quite reliable, reported last night, "Jason Hirschhorn will soon be leaving the company, we’ve heard from multiple sources."

    Perhaps it’s just a later conjecture – "the real problem may have been a lack of chemistry between Hirschhorn and his fellow executives" – to which Hirschhorn objects.

    Anyway, there’s no word on exactly when Hirschhorn could leave MySpace, or who will replace him as Chief Product Officer (a position reporting to CEO Owen Van Natta) if he does.

    Related Articles:

    > 15 Million People Have MySpace Mail Accounts

    > MySpace Integrates Facebook Connect Into Website

    > MySpace Updates Imeem Users On Playlists

  • Yahoo Halts Search For International Boss

    Most estimates agree that there are almost 7 billion human beings on this planet, and even the biggest misanthropes must admit that a few of them are smart and capable.  Yahoo apparently wasn’t able to encounter any keepers, however, as it’s stopped searching for someone to lead the company’s international division.

    Carol BartzThis position opened up in February of 2009 as Carol Bartz really began to reshape operations at Yahoo.  Now, as reported by John Letzing, Bartz said during yesterday’s earnings call, "I didn’t find anyone who was up to our needs."

    Some critics might take this as an admission of defeat; it seems a bit ridiculous that a year-long hunt didn’t turn up anything.  Or perhaps even scary, if Yahoo located some qualified candidates, but said candidates didn’t want to work for the company.

    Still, the timing of Bartz’s announcement goes a long ways towards making things look better.  Yahoo’s Q4 report was pretty good, after all – its stock rose in after-hours trading and is still headed up this morning – so this position appears to be less than critical.

    When everything’s said and done, the new plan is for three Yahoo executives (Hilary Schneider, Rose Tsou, and Rich Riley) representing the Americas, Asia, and EMEA to report directly to Bartz.

    Related Articles:

    > Yahoo’s Q4 Financial Results Draw Smiles

    > Canada Gets Its New Yahoo Homepage

    > Microsoft-Yahoo Deal Approval Gets Deadline In Europe

  • AOL Hires Google, Microsoft Veteran As Head Of Tech

    The Google-ization of AOL continued today as Jeff Reynar, who used to work for the search giant as an engineering manager, joined the company.  AOL’s appointed Reynar Head of Technology for Engineering and Products in New York.

    We should note that Reynar didn’t head to AOL straight from Google; he spent the last 18 or so months as the CTO of DBT Labs.  So it’s not like AOL lured the man directly away from the Googleplex (where he spent four and a half years) and all its perks.

    However, here’s another interesting fact about Reynar’s employment history: he worked at Microsoft for almost five years before heading to Google.

    That’s an impressive resume, all in all, and AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, who also used to work for Google, has high hopes regarding what Reynar will accomplish.  He said in a statement, "AOL was founded on a belief that behind great consumer experiences is great engineering, and Jeff is precisely the type of all-star we need to identify, recruit and foster talent as we build out our New York Technology Center."

    Reynar himself added, "AOL’s strategy – content, advertising and communications – presents enormous opportunities.  I’m excited by the prospect of finding engineers here and bringing new, young engineering talent to New York City to develop products that will make a tangible difference to consumers."

    Related Articles:

    > AOL Acquires Video Creation/Distribution Company StudioNow

    > AOL Top Ad Network In December

    > Tim Armstrong Weighing Search Deal With Microsoft

  • Baidu CTO’s Resignation Announced

    Baidu CTO’s Resignation Announced

    It appears that not all is well (or at least normal) at Baidu.  Last week, the company’s COO abruptly resigned, and today, its CTO followed suit.  Both men cited "personal reasons" for their departures, and Baidu’s made little other information available.

    Either exit might have been considered unremarkable on its own.  The COO, Peng Ye, left before Google made its big statement about China, and also before hackers attacked Baidu, so "personal reasons" sounded like a semi-plausible explanation.

    As for the CTO, Yinan Li, he could have gotten a pass if his colleague hadn’t left so recently.

    It’s the combination of the two departures that makes for such an odd situation.  And the curt way in which Baidu’s announced everything is also suspicious, with the press release about Peng Ye and his replacements consisting of about 180 words, and the release concerning Yinan Li hitting just over 50.

    Still, Baidu hasn’t badmouthed its former execs.  Robin Li, Baidu’s CEO, stated, "We appreciate all that Yinan has contributed to Baidu and we wish him every success in his future endeavors."

    Finally, it’s important to note that investors don’t seem worried.  In fact, they’ve sent Baidu’s stock up 0.74 percent so far today, even as the Dow and Nasdaq are down 0.94 and 1.24 percent, respectively.

    Related Articles:

    > Baidu’s Stock Soars Following Google China News

    > Baidu’s COO Resigns

    > Baidu Readying Mobile App

  • Yahoo Adds Ernst & Young Veteran To Board

    Yahoo’s board of directors has gained another member.  Sue James, who’s spent most of the past 35 years working for and with Ernst & Young, joined it earlier this week, and became Chair of the Board’s Audit Committee at the same time.

    James’s resume is rather impressive, indicating a deep understanding of tech organizations’ finances.  Yahoo announced in a statement, "During her tenure with E&Y, Sue was the lead partner or partner-in-charge for the audit work for a number of significant technology companies including Intel Corporation, Sun Microsystems, Amazon.com, Autodesk and HP."

    James has the fiscal bases covered by being a certified public accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, too.  And all professional stuff aside, James even gets major points for being a good person, since she’s on Tri-Valley Animal Rescue’s board of directors.

    Yahoo LogoAnyway, the election of James to Yahoo’s board of directors still leaves one seat open, since both Maggie Wilderotter and Carl Icahn vacated the group not too long ago.

    There’s been no indication of when Yahoo might finally fill that seat, or of whom Carol Bartz and the other members are considering for the position.

    Related Articles:

    > Yahoo Sponsored Search Getting New Features

    > Yahoo Southeast Asia Seals Deal With Friendster

    > Carol Bartz Gives Self A B-

  • Google Hires Communications Chief From McCain Campaign

    Someone with a very interesting political background will soon be in charge of Google’s corporate communications.  The company’s hired Jill Hazelbaker, who’s worked with both John McCain and Michael Bloomberg in the past, to replace Matt Furman.

    Google LogoA quick note about Furman’s departure: according to Jessica E. Vascellaro, he’s leaving on his own terms be closer to his family, and has already lined up another job.  So you didn’t miss some major PR fiasco, and this development shouldn’t correspond to any big changes in policy at Google.

    Hazelbaker may bring a unique perspective to the table as the search giant has to deal with the government more and more, though.  Her experience in politics is impressive, considering that she was the communications director for John McCain’s presidential campaign.

    More recently, she’s served as a spokesperson and media strategist for Michael Bloomberg’s mayoral reelection campaign, too.

    Of course, these connections imply that Hazelbaker is a Republican, and it’s no secret that Google leans to the left.  It’d be interesting to know whether the search giant is trying to diversify and appeal to different groups, or if it just hired the best person for the job regardless of political affiliations.

    Related Articles:

    > Google Arranges To Expand In Pittsburgh

    > Important Product Director Moving From Google To Digg

    > Google Ranked World’s Most Attractive Employer

  • Baidu’s COO Resigns

    Several changes in Baidu’s executive lineup occurred today, and fans can take heart in the fact that two of them came about as the result of promotions.  The third is a little more troubling, insofar as Baidu’s chief operating officer resigned "for personal reasons."

    The term "personal reasons" has represented any number of realities, of course. A person may be experiencing health or family issues, which is always unfortunate.  Or he (or she) may be either fed up with a company or getting fired.

    We’ll leave the speculation to you.  In any event, the resignation of Baidu’s COO, Dr. Peng Ye, was effective immediately, which is an interesting fact.  Then here’s one more potentially relevant detail before we move on: he was with Baidu for about 20 months.

    The first of the two happier items relates to Haoyu Shen, the former vice president of business operations, being promoted to senior vice president.  The second involves Zhan Wang, the former senior director of business products, being promoted to vice president.  So there are two probable signs of success at Baidu.

    Baidu’s stock has edged down a bit on after-hours trading, but all in all, shareholders seem to be taking these developments in stride.

    Related Articles:

    > Baidu Readying Mobile App

    > Baidu Pummeled Following Low Forecast

    > Baidu Goes Wireless In Japan