CNBC is reporting that Terry Semel, the Hollywood exec who brought Yahoo back from the bust but couldn't withstand Google, is out. Jerry Yang, one of the company's original founders, is in as CEO. Presumably, on an interim basis. The day-to-day management of the company will be led by Sue Decker, the former CFO who had been groomed as Semel's successor. She doesn't get the top job, at least not yet, but steps up to president. The most ridiculous twist: Semel is to stay as non-executive chairman. That might have been an option if Yahoo had brought in a starring chief exec, or if Semel had secured a dazzling deal, such as the acquisition of Facebook, before leaving the CEO job. In current circumstances, however, with Yahoo's new Panama ad marketplace unproven, the company hemorrhaging talent, and the strategic direction still unclear, Semel's new position is too obviously a face-saver. Either he was up to the job of leading Yahoo, or not. If not, as the board seems finally to have decided, then he should quit the company entirely. This is no time for cosmetic solutions. More later.</img>


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