Cisco Systems (CSCO) said that Jerry Yang, the 43-year-old co-founder of internet giant Yahoo! (YHOO), will retire from its board, reducing the board of directors to 13 members of the world’s largest maker of computer network equipment. The remaining board members have already voted to not replace Yang and keep the smaller number of directors.
It has only been a matter of weeks since San Jose, California-based Cisco added Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) CEO Marc Benioff and Kristina Johnson, the former U.S. Department of Energy Undersecretary to its board. Cisco’s board also includes Carol Bartz, the woman who replaced Yang as chief executive at Yahoo in 2009 until she was run-out of the executive role last year.
Yang will remain as a director until the Cisco shareholder meeting on November 15. Yang, who resigned his director post on Yahoo’s board in January, had been a member of the Cisco board for 12 years. According to a regulatory filing by Cisco, Yang stepped down “to more fully pursue new personal and business interests.”
Shares of Cisco have slid far from a tech-bubble high of $80.13 in 2000 and have lost ground in four out of the last five years as competition continues to stiffen. So far in 2012, however, shares are up about 6 percent.
By Andrew Klips
