u=2991256737,531591794&fm=15&gp=0.jpg (Photo : baidu.com)
Thursday will be the final day on the job for Yahoo's Chief Operating Officer Henrique De Castro. No reason was given for De Castro's exit, and no successor was named to replace him as Yahoo's second in command behind President and CEO Marissa Mayer.
In her first major move as Yahoo chief, Mayer hired De Castro in July 2012. De Castro, like Mayer herself, had been working at Google as the vice-president of Partner Business Solutions Group. At the time he was hired, De Castro was highly praised by Mayer. At Yahoo, Mayer put him in charge of the company's sales, media, business and operations units, for which Yahoo agreed to pay him U.S. $62 million over four years.
Interestingly, it was Mayer herself who decided to fire him. In an internal e-mail to Yahoo staff, Mayer said, "During my own reflection, I made the difficult decision that our COO, Henrique De Castro, should leave the company. I appreciate Henrique's contributions and wish him the best in his future endeavors."
De Castro has been described by people who have worked with him as very smart, but difficult to get along with and that he was disliked by both his team and his clients. Another source added that De Castro had no real experience in advertising sales nor in leading a team of over 1,000 people. Others described hiring De Castro as the wrong fit for the position at Yahoo.
Last September, there were rumors that De Castro was on his way out because he had not been able to successfully integrate his sales team or to expand Yahoo's ad business.
While only being on the job for a year, he is still expected to be paid the full amount of his four year contract.
