Yahoo's media head resigns
David Graves, senior vice president of the media division, joins the list of high-level executives that have resigned from the company.
Graves oversaw Yahoo's well-known content properties, including news, sports, finance, health and weather. The division recently added entertainment, which includes Yahoo's movie promotions and its online music site Launch.com.
"I am leaving for lifestyle reasons to spend less time away from my family," he said in a telephone interview. Graves added that his decision stemmed from the travel demands between his home in Massachusetts and Yahoo's Sunnyvale, Calif., headquarters.
"If I lived on the West Coast I'd definitely be staying," Graves added.
No successor has been named, but Yahoo plans to look for a replacement.
Yahoo is undergoing a reorganization of its various business divisions. In November, the company announced it would trim its 44 business divisions into six umbrella units--namely media, commerce, listings, enterprise solutions, communications and access. As part of the reshuffling, Yahoo laid off 400 employees.
Graves, who started at the company in January 2001, joins a lengthy list of top executives who have left Yahoo over the past year and a half. The list includes former CEO Timothy Koogle, Chief Financial Officer Gary Valenzuela, sales chief Anil Singh, former business development head Ellen Siminoff and marketing head Karen Edwards.
At the same time, Yahoo has appointed a legion of executives from the non-Internet world to help turn the company around. These executives include CEO Terry Semel, CFO Susan Decker, Executive Vice President of North American Operations Gregory Coleman, sales chief Wenda Harris Millard, and head of marketing John Costello, to name a few.
Graves will remain in the Boston area to pursue other opportunities.
"David Graves, SVP Media, Finance & Leisure, has made a personal decision to leave Yahoo for family reasons," Yahoo said in a statement.
"The reorganization of the Media & Information business unit would require that David, who is based in Boston, spend considerable time in Sunnyvale away from his family. David has made valuable contributions to Yahoo during his tenure at Yahoo and we wish him well. He will work closely with the team through a transition period until the end of January."