Yahoo mobile leader Marco Boerries is leaving his post as executive vice president after four years with the firm on the eve of what is expected to be a major internal reorganization at Yahoo as the embattled Web pioneer attempts to press ahead with its turnaround strategy.
A company spokesperson told InternetNews.com Boerries’ resignation was related to personal reasons.
The news comes one day after Yahoo’s news leader Neeraj Khemlani announced he was taking a job with publishing giant Hearst and a week after the Web giant announced the upcoming launch of its new Yahoo Mobile service.
The Yahoo Mobile service, now in beta and announced during the Mobile World Congress event earlier this month, was described by Boerries in a release as Yahoo’s latest effort to transform a user’s Internet experience.
Yahoo has developed an app for the iPhone, as well as Nokia, BlackBerry, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola handsets and one for devices running Windows Mobile platforms. Mobile device users are welcome to participate in the beta program, which is expected to go live in late March.
Boerries departure also comes as Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) strives to expands search market share against titan Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and regain focus after last year’s failed romance with Microsoft. Last year was a rocky one for Yahoo trying to figure out its future.
One analyst told InternetNews.com this week that Yahoo needs to focus on areas it can serve as a leader, such as search and display advertising.
Yahoo declined to comment on the status of a successor but noted that Boerries’ division has seen “many accomplishments” over the last several years. Boerries served as executive vice president of the Yahoo’s Connected Life Division, which encompassed the company’s onSearch and oneConnect mobile products.
His Yahoo profile notes that Yahoo now has more than 60 carrier partners globally using oneSearch and advertising partnerships with top operators, publishers and agencies.
Boerries joined Yahoo in 2005 via the acquisition of VerdiSoft, a digital mobility provider which he founded in 2001. Before that, he served as vice president and general manager of Webtop and application software at Sun Microsystems.
A corporate bio described him as “the de facto open source ambassador” at Sun and instrumental in introducing the GNOME project, a free desktop environment and application framework. Yahoo did not return media calls by press time.
Boerries’ tech career launched with his development of the StarOffice Suite after founding Star Division when he was 16. He sold StarOffice to Sun in 1999.
CEO Carol Bartz, who took the helm January 13, is reportedly set to announce a major corporate shuffle by week’s end.
Bartz, the no-nonsense former CEO of CAD software developer Autodesk for 14 years, is reportedly laying down a new corporate organization in which top leaders such as CTO, COO and CMO would report directly to her.
Reports indicate Bartz also aims to redo a recent organizational chart that split Yahoo leadership realms into four operating divisions. Bartz supposedly favors one leader directing U.S. operations and another heading up international responsibility.
