Jerry Yang has left Yahoo!’s board and all other positions. The full press release, which I caught on AllThingsD encompasses some of the most poorly written BS I’ve seen in a long time. There’s so much tension in the quotes that you can hardly cut it with a nail clipper, one of the few items still left intact at Yahoo!.

In his resignation letter, Yang says:

My time at Yahoo!, from its founding to the present, has encompassed some of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life. However, the time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo! As I leave the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago, I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future.

which pretty much sounds like

My time at Yahoo!, from its founding to the present, has encompassed some of the most exciting and somewhat rewarding experiences of my entire life. However, the time has come for me to bail in pain and watch this ship sink all by itself. Well, not quite, but with a little help from half of dozen of people or so that are quite good at chopping things up. As I am forced to leave the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago, I am confident that Scott Thompson will have the decency not to fuck up as badly as Carol Bartz did and along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team guide Yahoo! on its last road successfully. It’s going to be exciting to watch to say the least”

The press release goes on quoting chairman Roy Bobstock:

Jerry Yang is a visionary and a pioneer, who has contributed enormously to Yahoo! during his many years of service.

It has been a pleasure to work with Jerry. His unique strategic insights have been invaluable. He has always remained focused on the best interests of Yahoo!’s stakeholders, including shareholders, employees and more than 700 million users. And while I and the entire Board respect his decision, we will miss his remarkable perspective, vision and wise counsel. On behalf of the Board, we thank Jerry and wish him all the very best in his future endeavors.

We appreciate Jerry’s comments and share his enthusiasm for the company’s prospects. With Scott Thompson leading an outstanding team of Yahoos to deliver innovative products and an engaging customer experience, Yahoo!’s future is bright.

 

that basically translates to

Jerry Yang used to be a visionary and a pioneer, who has contributed enormously to Yahoo! during the first years. Lately he’s been pushing it though and even though we tried to calm him down he would just sit in the path of what we promote as progress.

It was a pleasure working with Jerry, but let’s face it, we all know what his focus was and that made most stakeholders and shareholders angry. Some of them even pissed. I respect his decision like I would respect my own and quite frankly, the board will not miss his perspective, vision and counsel.

On behalf of the board I thank Jerry for not making a big fuss about him leaving. It was about time and I wish him all the best. He needs to know this.

We appreciate his comments and share his real thoughts about the company’s prospects – most of us feel the same. I’m confident that with Scott Thompson at the helm we will achieve pretty much what we couldn’t while Jerry was here and set Yahoo! on the right track.

 

The press release ends with a short (understandably) quote from current Yahoo! CEO, Scott Thompson:

I am grateful for the warm welcome and support Jerry provided me during my early days here. Jerry leaves behind a legacy of innovation and customer focus for this iconic brand, having shaped our culture by fostering a spirit of innovation that began 17 years ago and continues to grow even stronger today. Jerry has great confidence in the future of Yahoo!, and I share his confidence in the enormous potential of Yahoo! in the days ahead.

 

that by most standards reads

I am grateful for the welcome and support Jerry provided me the day he found out we’re shuffling people and I’d become CEO. At least he didn’t have to avoid Carol anymore. Jerry leaves behind quite a legacy and even though my intentions are good, I’m not quite sure I’ll be able to keep Yahoo! afloat after 17 years of innovative culture, but I’ll try at least for a while.

Jerry has great confidence that Yahoo! won’t have any future in its current state and I share his confidence in the potential further break-up of Yahoo! in the days ahead. It certainly can’t be long.

 

Dear Jerry, I’m sorry.