Yahoo chairman steps down

YAHOO chairman Roy Bostock and three longtime board members are stepping down, submitting to the demands of many frustrated shareholders who blame them for contributing to the follies that have dragged down the Internet company’s revenue and stock price.

The shake-up announced early yesterday continues a drastic makeover of Yahoo’s leadership during the past month as the company negotiates to sell its Asian assets in a complex deal that could help ignite a long-promised turnaround. After Yahoo hired former PayPal executive Scott Thompson as its CEO a few days into the new year, co-founder Jerry Yang resigned from the board and severed all other ties with the company that he helped start in 1995.

Disney revenue misses expectations

WALT Disney Co.’s quarterly revenue fell short of Wall Street’s expectations after the movie studio put in a poor showing, but profit grew at a faster-than-expected 12 percent clip as media networks and theme parks held strong in an uncertain economy.

Disney, the operator of television networks ESPN and ABC, a movie studio and theme parks, posted fiscal first-quarter revenue of US$10.8 billion, a 1 percent gain from a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected revenue of US$11.2 billion.

Analysts say the largest U.S. media corporation is searching for new ways to grow its ABC television unit.