AllThingsD » defections

Bailing Out of the Chamber: Are Apple and Nike Smart or Shortsighted?

Keith Johnson — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:02:52 +0000

The Wall Street Journal edit page has leapt to the defense of the Chamber of Commerce, rattled in recent days by the high-profile defections of a few big companies at odds with the Chamber’s stance on climate change.

The thrust of today’s editorial, which centers on the recent departures of Apple (AAPL) (from the Chamber) and Nike (NKE) (from the Chamber’s Board of Directors), boils down to a single premise: “Apple and Nike are putting green political correctness above the long-term interests of their own shareholders.”

Really?

The WSJ argues that both companies will suffer in the long run by bailing out of the Chamber now. By staying in, they could help fight against any legislation that would unduly raise the cost of doing business, in addition to counting on the Chamber’s help on other issues in the future.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Microsoft Pleased With Response to Yahoo HotJobs Ads

John Paczkowski — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:00:42 +0000

Microsoft may have failed in its bid to acquire Yahoo last year, but it’s had quite a bit of success in its bid to acquire the company’s talent.

Between November 2008 and March 2009, Redmond hired away five Yahoo veterans. First, Sean Suchter, VP of search technology at Yahoo, left to become general manager of Microsoft’s Silicon Valley Search Technology Center. Then Yahoo search scientist Qi Lu followed him after being tapped as president of Microsoft’s Online Services Group. Soon after that, Larry Heck, former VP of search & advertising sciences at Yahoo Labs, accepted a job in the R&D department of the software giant’s online services division. Jan Pedersen, who once served as a chief scientist and VP of Yahoo’s Search and Advertising Technology Group and Dayne Sampson, Yahoo’s VP of operations for search and advertising, followed.

Now comes word that three more Yahoo execs have taken jobs at Microsoft (MSFT). Knut Risvik, Yongdong Wang and Kevin Timmons, all Yahoo veterans, are now headed to Microsoft.

Risvik, once a chief architect at Yahoo (YHOO), will work on Microsoft’s search platform and infrastructure. Timmons, formerly a Yahoo VP of operations, has been charged with running the company’s data center expansion. What Yongdong Wang, once a VP of international search, will do remains to be seen. He is, however, reporting to Harry Shum, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for search product development, so presumably he’ll be doing something similar.

A nice little trifecta for Microsoft and one that surely inspired Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz to drop a frustrated F-bomb or three. As I said back in March: If Yahoo employee defections to Microsoft continue apace, there may come a day when Redmond will no longer need to buy the struggling company’s search business. It will already have acquired it.

Microsoft Acquiring Yahoo One Employee at a Time

John Paczkowski — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:36:14 +0000

If Yahoo employee defections to Microsoft continue apace, there may come a day when Redmond will no longer need to buy the struggling company’s search business. It will already have acquired it.

First, Sean Suchter, VP of search technology at Yahoo, left to become general manager of Microsoft’s Silicon Valley Search Technology Center. Then Yahoo search scientist Qi Lu followed him, tapped as president of Microsoft’s Online Services Group. And soon after that, Larry Heck, former VP of search & advertising sciences at Yahoo Labs, accepted a job in the R&D department of the software giant’s online services division. Now Yahoo alum Jan Pedersen has joined them as well. Admittedly Pedersen arrives at Microsoft (MSFT) by way of Amazon’s (AMZN) A9.com. But prior to that gig, he was chief scientist and VP, Search and Advertising Technology Group, at Yahoo (YHOO).

Apparently, Microsoft is going to combine its search business with Yahoo’s one way or the other.