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Yahoo’s new chief has a Hollywood tinge

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CIOL Bureau
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The man who produced "Batman" and other high-budget movies at Warner Bros. was put in charge of Internet portal Yahoo. Terry Semel was named chairman and chief executive, replacing Tim Koogle, who will quit his executive role in August.



Originally, Koogle had vowed to stay on as chairman when he announced his plans to step aside as CEO last month. But Semel apparently insisted he needed full control of Yahoo and Yahoo’s board agreed. Koogle will remain vice chairman until August. His future after that is not defined but will almost certainly be outside Yahoo.



At Yahoo! Semel faces the difficult task of reviving advertising sales and find new sources of revenue to reverse steep sales and earnings decline that has also reduced Yahoo’s Wall Street book value from by more than $100 billion from its peak market value in early 2000.



As part of his decision to join Semel bought 1 million shares of Yahoo in a private placement yesterday at $17.62 each. The appointment of a Hollywood veteran immediately led to widespread speculation that Semel will be able to set up Yahoo to be sold to a major media conglomerate such as the Walt Disney Co. or Viacom. Semel insisted his primary aim would be to expand Yahoo rather than prep it for a sale.



Semel hope to achieve this by using Yahoo’s brand name to move into new services and raising its visibility among potential advertisers. "I see Yahoo! as a foundation for a company getting to the next level." Semel, along with Robert Daly ran the Warner Bros. studio for the past two decades. During that time, Warner Bros. was Hollywood's most consistently profitable studio.

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