Yahoo!’s head of global media steps down

Yahoo!’s senior vice president of global media, Miyuki Rosen, is due to leave the company, effective September 1. 

In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Yahoo! said that Rosen will receive the severance benefits provided in her existing agreement with the company, along with “equity award agreements for a termination without cause.”

The high-ranking executive took up her current role in May 2012 and led strategy, content creation, acquisition and programming, business development and partnerships across Yahoo!’s media and commerce properties worldwide. This included the Yahoo! homepage, as well as Yahoo!’s media and commerce portfolio which includes news, finance, sports, entertainment and video.

In an internal email, seen published by All Things Digital, Yahoo! said that Rosen’s work over the last year to “reposition Yahoo!’s media offerings sets us up very well for the future,” and credited her for helping Yahoo! “aggressively expand our premium content partnerships with top brands like ABC News, CNBC, NBC Sports and many more.”

“We will continue to invest in a model that spans the entire spectrum of content from premium to mid-tier and UGC — personalised for users and curated by our expert editorial team,” Yahoo! said.

Yahoo! added that Rosen’s team will now report directly to COO Henrique De Castro while it determines “the best structure for the future.”

The news came as Yahoo! announced that it has agreement to repurchase 40 million shares of Yahoo! common stock owned by investment firm Third Point at a purchase price of $29.11per share.

Following the repurchase, Third Point will own approximately 20 million shares, representing less than 2% of Yahoo!’s outstanding common stock, said Yahoo!. Each of the directors originally nominated by Third Point – Daniel Loeb, Harry Wilson, and Michael Wolf – have submitted their resignations from Yahoo!’s board of directors, effective July 31, 2013.

Max Levchin, who was appointed as a director upon mutual agreement between Third Point and the board, will remain on the board, which will now consist of seven members – though Yahoo! said it would “revisit” its size and composition.