The exodus of Yahoo's old guard continued on Tuesday, as four of the embattled search engine's board members, including Chairman Roy Bostock, announced they are stepping down.
Their exits are part of a larger effort to “accelerate the company’s transformation,” according to a letter written by Bostock and released by the company.
Bostock, Vyomesh Joshi, Gary Wilson and Arthur Kern will all decline to stand for re-election at the next shareholders’ meeting.
Also read: Yahoo Co-Founder Jerry Yang Resigns
The move comes just weeks after Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang stepped down from the company's board of directors.
Yahoo also announced that board elected two independent directors from the tech world to replace some of the outgoing members. The new members are Alfred Amoroso, president and CEO of the digital entertainment company Rovi, and Maynard Webb, Jr., the chairman of software maker LiveOps.
Bostock framed the move as the third and final step in Yahoo’s attempt to reposition itself, a review that began with the hiring of new CEO Scott Thompson.
“The board has concluded that in order to accelerate the Company's transformation, the combination of a new Chief Executive Officer with an enhanced team of independent directors would provide Yahoo! with the expertise and perspectives necessary to drive innovation and growth going forward,” Bostock wrote.
Also read: Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson to Wall Street: Trust Me
“These actions result from a process I initiated about six months ago in a special meeting of the independent directors in which we analyzed the reasons why Yahoo! was not meeting either our own expectations or those of our shareholders.”
Not that the reversing course has been seamless.
After outsourcing its search business to Yahoo, the company has tried to reposition itself as a content creator while simultaneously improving profit margins. As this often torturous transformation takes plays out in the public eye, the company has continued to lose market share to more nimble competitors such as Google and Facebook.
Thompson, the former PayPal chief, took the reins of Yahoo following the ouster of Carol Bartz last fall. Bartz alienated herself from the company's brass due to her penchant for earthy outbursts and failure to bolster the internet giant's sagging share price.
Since capturing the top spot, Thompson has said that the company needs to be both a media company and a technology company. He has also said that Yahoo is no longer for sale but would proceed in its effort to sell of its Asian assets.
Wall Street was remarkably neutral in its reaction to the news. Shares of the company remained flat in after-hours trading on the news of Bostock's exit.
AllThingsD first reported the board members' departure.