Yahoo, the Internet behemoth best known for its Web portal and search engine, incorporated on March 1, 1995. Founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo, when they were electrical engineering grad students at Stanford, the company was part of the first wave of hot Internet startups. It grew rapidly during the ’90s, reaching an all-time stock high of $118.75 a share on January 3, 2000.
During the last decade, Yahoo’s fortune’s declined as it was outpaced and out-innovated by more nimble competitors such as Google and Facebook. Yang lost the confidence of investors, and was replaced as CEO in 2009. The tenures of the next two CEOs were short-lived and tumultuous; and it remains to be seen whether the company’s best days are behind it.
This week, Marissa Mayer, who was named CEO and president in 2012, made news when a memo to Yahoo employees became public. The memo announced that working from home would no longer be permitted; the company’s hundreds of remote workers would have to start showing up at its offices, effective June 2013, or resign. The ban incited a week of debate over the value of remote work. Some critics denounced the ban and defended working outside the office. Others sided with Mayer. And some pondered whether the new policy might be the reinvigorating jolt that Yahoo needs.
The Editors are the staffers of the Columbia Journalism Review.