Yahoo VP Srinija Srinivasan steps down

BANGALORE, INDIA: Srinija Srinivasan, an original employee who helped launch Yahoo Inc. more than 15 years ago, announced this week that she would be stepping down from the company.

Vice president and editor-in-chief Srinija Srinivasan's departure comes as chief executive Carol Bartz oversees an ongoing turnaround effort at Yahoo, which has involved restructuring management and shifting focus away from search, as the company emphasizes its online display-advertising business, said The Wall Street Journal.

“Today more than 15 years later, I’m proud to announce my graduation from Yahoo! employee to Yahoo! User,” she wrote in a blog post. “No blog post can capture the density of this experience, the richness of what I’ve learned, and the profound gratitude I’ll always have – for David and Jerry taking that leap of faith in me, and for the thousands of Yahoo! employees who have made this a place where magic happens.”

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Ms Srinivasan, Yahoo's fifth-ever employee, said that after leaving the company she would be devoting more time to her longstanding love for jazz.

“As I turn in my employee badge, I’ll be devoting more time to my longstanding love for jazz. I chair the board of SFJAZZ, a nonprofit in San Francisco in the midst of an exciting phase of growth. On the opposite side of the country, my partner Josh and I are developing a performance and production center for creative music in Brooklyn,” she said.

“At Yahoo! I’ve witnessed the kinds of circumstances that give rise to great creativity, and I find the same holds true in music: bringing together diverse perspectives in a collaborative spirit, allowing each voice individual expression in service to the collective whole, striking just the right balance between structure and freedom, being mindful and respectful of the past but relentlessly looking forward to what’s next,” read the blog.

Srinija Srinivasan is also a member of the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars.