7 posts and columns on Tom Freston

My Picks for Yahoo’s Next CEO — Maybe Snoop Dogg, Ya Digg?

in Media on September 7, 2011 at 7:00 am PT

While the Yahoo board has yet to begin a search, I have already been hard at work on selecting the next CEO.
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Is Veoh the Next Big Video Site to Give Up?

in Media on July 6, 2009 at 3:00 am PT

Now that Joost has given up the ghost and bailed out of the Web video portal business, who’s next? A good bet: Veoh, one of the best-funded would-be YouTubes. Multiple sources tell me the company is aggressively marketing itself to would-be buyers, and it’s asking for less than the $70 million investors like Michael Eisner have plowed into the company. Meanwhile, rival MetaCafe is looking for a “strategic investor.”
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Yahoo CEO Countdown, 26 Days to Go: As Chernin Declines, Will a Dark Horse Emerge?

in News on December 5, 2008 at 7:24 am PT

With Yahoo board Chairman Roy Bostock reportedly assuring investors and others that the company will have a CEO in place by the end of the year, it seems prudent for BoomTown to initiate an official Yahoo CEO Countdown. After all, this column had a 100-Day No-Sacred-Cows Vision Quest to mark the time that Jerry Yang said he needed to give Yahoo a top-to-bottom look-see when he took over last summer as CEO. So here’s today’s update: No Peter Chernin and a lot of thorny issues for other candidates.

More CEO Choices for Yahoo: Freston, Jordan, Bonnie and Two Rosenblatts!

in News on November 19, 2008 at 12:00 am PT

BoomTown might have been remiss in my post yesterday on top candidates for the Yahoo CEO job, in the wake of news that Jerry Yang was stepping down, by leaving out several key possibilities. Yesterday’s roster included News Corp.’s Peter Chernin, Google’s Tim Armstrong, Kevin Johnson of Juniper Networks and also two Yahoo board members, among others. So here is an addendum to my initial list–all of whom are Yahoo outsiders, the likely choice versus more tarnished insiders.

Veoh's Dmitry Shapiro Speaks!

in News on June 23, 2008 at 6:30 am PT

Recently, while I was at a conference in Los Angeles, I caught up with Veoh Founder Dmitry Shapiro. BoomTown will be focusing a lot on online video this year and Veoh is one of the several online video sharing sites–a group of smaller players that includes sites like Joost, Hulu, Dailymotion, Vimeo and others that I like to call not-YouTube. Still, it is making progress. Today, the Los Angeles-based Veoh announced that the ABC television network would put full episodes of its hot primetime shows–such as “Ugly Betty” (love it) and “Desperate Housewives” (not so much)–up on the site.

Yahoo Execs' Reaction: "I Need Some Prozac"

in News on May 5, 2008 at 12:05 am PT

Be careful what you wish for, Jerry Yang. Because after talking to a dozen Yahoo execs over the weekend after the Microsoft takeover deal cratered, most of whom are vice presidents or above, I have to say that your stock drop isn’t the worst thing you will have to deal with this morning when you pull up at work. The worst? That’ll be the very hairy eyeball you will be getting from a lot more of your employees, who are scared silly and a lot peeved by the limb many feel you have dragged them and their stock options out onto.

Microsoft Board Names?

in News on March 14, 2008 at 12:01 am PT

BoomTown wrote a few weeks ago that Microsoft (MSFT) was fishing in Silicon Valley and also for “three to four big-name CEOs” for directors to nominate for its own Yahoo (YHOO) board slate, in the event the software giant took off the gloves and tried to oust Yahoo’s current board and replace it with its [...]