Kara Swisher

Recent Posts by Kara Swisher

Another Top Yahoo Exec to Step Down — SVP Ops David Dibble Quits Job, but Remains Adviser to CEO Mayer

Yahoo__David_Dibble-thmb

According to an internal memo sent to employees and also in a regulatory filing by the company, David Dibble, who runs all technology and operations for Yahoo, is leaving the building.

The longtime Yahoo veteran, who is retiring, has reportedly wanted to depart for a long time. Dibble was not part of the tightly-knit team close to new CEO Marissa Mayer, although he did report to her. But the company noted that Dibble would continue to advise her in an unspecified, but well-paid, new role.

In the filing, along with other severance considerations, Yahoo said he would “continue to have an annual base salary of $650,000 and a 90% target annual bonus opportunity” for this advisory role.

Not bad — and optically better than a full-scale departure of yet another major Yahoo exec. (Focus on optics here and you would not be that far off the mark.)

Dibble is the second top manager to leave Yahoo recently. Last week, Media head Mickie Rosen left. As I noted last week, there were more to come — and Dibble was at the top of my list for stepping down from senior management.

And, there are more departures coming, said sources, especially since a lot of lucrative stock options have vested for some managers. Among those I have heard are also considering departing include some top tech and sales execs.

At the same time, Mayer has been trying to make some significant hires at the company, especially via acquisitions of a variety of innovative startups. She has to — there are some big openings needing filling, especially in the advertising and media orgs.

In his job at Yahoo, Dibble has been in charge of platforms, technology infrastructure, engineering, science and operations. In other words, the guy who kept the lights on at Yahoo.

Before Yahoo, Dibble was CTO of First Data Corporation, and had also worked at Fidelity Investments, J.P. Morgan, Charles Schwab and FMC Corporation.

Here’s Yahoo’s 8-K filing on Dibble:

Form 8-K

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Another gadget you don’t really need. Will not work once you get it home. New model out in 4 weeks. Battery life is too short to be of any use.

— From the fact sheet for a fake product entitled Useless Plasticbox 1.2 (an actual empty plastic box) placed in L.A.-area Best Buy stores by an artist called Plastic Jesus