Yahoo Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Semel at Yahoo headquarters in Sunnyvale, Califorina, in 2007. Semel left the struggling Internet firm's board of directors on Thursday. Semel's departure comes just two days after Yahoo revealed plans to lay off 1,000 employees as part of an effort to revitalize a company that analysts say strayed from its profitable strengths while Semel was at the helm.

Dethroned Yahoo chief executive Terry Semel left the struggling Internet firm's board of directors on Thursday.

Semel's departure comes just two days after Yahoo revealed plans to lay off 1,000 employees as part of an effort to revitalize a company that analysts say strayed from its profitable strengths while Semel was at the helm.

Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang replaced Semel as chief executive in June to shore up the California firm's profits and stock price.

Semel was relegated to a post as non-executive chairman of the Yahoo board.

Yahoo announced that Thursday would be Semel's last day on the board of directors. Semel told Yahoo executives several months ago that he wanted to leave the board and worked with Yang and others to find a replacement.

Board member Roy Bostock is replacing Semel as non-executive chairman.

"It has been an honor for me to work with Yahoo's incredibly talented people over the past seven years, and I'm proud of all that we've accomplished during that time," Semel said in a written release.

"With the company moving forward under new leadership, I believe this is an appropriate time for me to step down from the board."

Semel was a veteran Warner Brothers studio executive when he was hired as Yahoo chief executive in 2001.

"Terry was brought on to lead Yahoo to the promised land of TV shows and relationships with TV studios, which never materialized and took them off their core game," Gartner analyst Allen Weiner told AFP.

"Meanwhile, the nature of being an Internet portal was changing. They kind of got caught with their virtual pants down."

Yang says his mission is to streamline Yahoo and refocus resources on Web search, advertising and the shift to accessing the Internet on the go.

Yahoo has been vexed by sluggish revenue growth despite launching a new online advertising platform a year ago and having hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

Yahoo reported its profits dipped to 206 million dollars in the final three months of 2007 but still topped expectations by Wall Street analysts.

Yahoo said it earned 15 cents per share in its final fiscal quarter of 2007 as compared with 19 cents per share, or 269 million dollars, in the same period a year earlier.

Yahoo reported its revenues for 2007 climbed eight percent to 1.8 billion dollars as compared to revenues in the prior year.

However, Yahoo's net income for 2007 was 660 million dollars, or 47 cents per share, as compared to 751 million, or 52 cents per share, in 2006.

While announcing Semel's departure, Yang credited him with helping Yahoo nearly triple the number of users to 500 million while creating billions in shareholder wealth.

"Terry Semel has been a great partner and true friend, and has played a key role in helping to grow Yahoo's business - and industry-leading audience - over the past seven years," said Yang.

"I want to thank Terry for his many contributions to Yahoo over the years - and for helping to lay a firm foundation for future success."

© 2008 AFP