Yahoo! board chairman steps down

The Yahoo sign in Times Square is seen in this 18 January, 2006 file photo in New York. Picture: AFP/Don Emmert/FILES Source: AFP

YAHOO! on Thursday announced that the chairman of the board was stepping down as freshly-minted chief Marissa Mayer forges ahead with an effort to revive the struggling Internet pioneer.

Fred Amoroso will not seek reelection to the board of directors at the upcoming 2013 annual meeting of shareholders, Yahoo! said in a release.

Maynard Webb Jr. was appointed to take over as chairman of the board, with Amoroso serving as a member until the shareholder meeting on June 25.

"Fred has been a wonderful chairman for Yahoo! over the past year, and I'm personally grateful for his trust and guidance as I took on the role as Yahoo! CEO," said Yahoo! chief executive Mayer.

"Fred's mentorship and perspective has proved truly valuable to me in my first few months here at Yahoo!."

Mayer took over the helm of Yahoo! in July of last year. Mayer had been a high-ranking executive at Google, which she joined in 1999 as its 20th employee and the first female engineer hired.

Yahoo! has been trying to reinvent itself as a "premier digital media" company since the Internet search service found itself withering in Google's shadow.

At the time of Mayer's hiring, Amoroso touted her as the ideal person for the job of Yahoo! chief.

Amoroso said that he told the board from the outset that he only intended to serve as chairman for a year.

"I'm very grateful and proud of the progress Yahoo! has made over the past year," Amoroso said in a release on Thursday.

"With Marissa at the helm and the leadership team in place, this is a natural time for me to transition off the board, consistent with what I said a year ago."

After Amoroso leaves, the Yahoo! board will have 10 members.

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Westfield board gets shake-up

WESTFIELD Group's board is to be shaken up, with directors Stephen Johns and Fred Hilmer stepping down at next month's annual general meeting.

Mr Johns, 65, has been involved with the shopping centre developer for more than 40 years, including 27 as a board member.

He joined in 1970 as an employee, rising to the role of group finance director before retiring in 2002 but continued as a director.

He resigned as chairman at construction group Leighton last month along with two other directors following a breakdown in relations with majority shareholder German construction company Hochtief.

Business and academic figure Professor Hilmer has been on Westfield's board since 1991 and is the current vice chancellor at the University of NSW.

Westfield chairman Frank Lowy said the two men had served the group through a phase of continued growth and been instrumental in its success over a long period.

Westfield is one of Australia's largest companies, sitting just outside the top 10 on share market value.

Former PricewaterhouseCoopers chief executive Mark Johnson will stand for election to the board at the AGM on May 29.

Westfield shares were 19 cents down at $11.60 on Friday afternoon.

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'Interference': Leighton board walks

Source: Bloomberg

THE chairman and two other board members of construction and mining group Leighton Holdings have walked out, citing interference and lack of independence from major shareholder the Spanish-controlled Hochtief.

Chairman Stephen Johns and directors Wayne Osborn and former Reserve Bank of Australia governor Ian Macfarlane resigned Friday morning.

The walk out takes the vacancies on the Leighton Holdings board to five out of 12 seats, following one unrelated resignation last year and another existing vacancy.

A statement from Leighton company secretary Richard Willcock  said the men had "resigned following what they perceived to be a breakdown in relations with the major shareholder Hochtief and their view that Hochtief no longer supports an independent board at Leighton".

"Leighton operates under an independent board and management. Leighton believes these governance arrangements, which have been in place for a long period, have contributed substantially to the value created for all of Leighton's 57,000 shareholders," Mr Willcock said.

In the meantime the company was "absolutely focused on managing the business in the best interests of all shareholders", Mr Willcock said.

Company analysts described the shock resignations as a case of “back to the future” after a similar change of guard at Leighton just 18 months ago.

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Major board changes at Leighton

THREE board members at construction giant Leighton have stood down because of a breakdown in relations with its major shareholder.

Chairman Stephen Johns and non-executive directors Wayne Osborn and Ian Macfarlane, a former Reserve Bank of Australia governor, had tendered their resignations, the company said.

"They have resigned following what they perceive to be a breakdown in relations with the major shareholder Hochtief and their view that Hochtief no longer supports an independent board at Leighton," the company said in a statement on Friday.

German construction company Hochtief holds a majority interest in Leighton, and has two representatives on what was the company's 10-person board.

Leighton said its independent board structure had been a substantial contributor to the company's growing value, and the current arrangements with Hochtief were expected to continue.

"We believe this is well understood by the market," Leighton said.

A board meeting will be held as soon as possible to elect a new chairman, it said.

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Gonski appointed to SingTel board

FUTURE Fund chairman David Gonski has been appointed to the board of Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel).

SingTel is the parent of Australian telco Optus.

The announcement of the appointment of the prominent Sydney-based businessman and philanthropist was made in a statement after the close of share market trading on Friday evening.

SingTel is dual Singapore-Australian stock exchange listed company.

The 59-year-old Mr Gonski is also a non-executive director of Singapore Airlines, as well as chairman of Coca-Cola Amatil in Australia.

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