The document outlines the evolution of Yahoo's mission statements over 21 years, highlighting four key governance periods and the respective CEOs involved. It discusses the challenges Yahoo faced in creating cohesive and compelling mission statements, emphasizing the lack of coherence in their evolving vision. The current mission emphasizes Yahoo's role as a guide focused on connecting and entertaining users through personalized experiences.

1. 1994 20081995 2007
"Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web"
Tim Koogle, from 1995 till 2001Yahoo! Inc.
Missions
 20162011 2012 2013 2014 2015
JerryYang, from 2007 till 2009
NO to Microsoft bid, too low!
Microsoft
unsolicited $44.6
billion bid for
Yahoo
$31/share
… What’s next?
Feb. 1
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
CEOMarch
Yahoo! "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle"
Terry Semel, from 2001 till 2007
10 11 12
IPO
April
CEO
20102009
Missions
[Ross Levinsohn], from 2009 till 2012
Carol Bartz, [Tim Morse], Scott Thompson& MarissaMayer, from 2012 till now
13 14 15
July 16
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
1 72 3 4 5 6 8 9
Jul 07, 2015, last but not last, 23rd mission:
Yahoo is a guide focused on informing,
connecting, and entertaining our users.
www.jmleray.com / 2015
Aabacospin-off
July
21 years, 23 missions
20 08
All-time high price share
125,03 $ Gen 04, 2000
All-time low price share
3,88 $ Sep 28, 2001
post-Microsoft bid low price
share 8,94 $ Nov 20, 2008
post-Microsoft bid high price
share 52,62 $ Nov 18, 2014
Average price share
June-July 2015, ÷ $40
David Filo

2. Right off the bat, we see four major periods emerge, each corresponding to a specific era in Yahoo’s governance:
 1996-2001, CEO Tim Koogle, 6 missions, a new one each year
 2002-2009, CEOs Terry Semel + Jerry Yang, 6 missions
 2009-2012, 4 CEOs: Carol Bartz, Tim Morse [interim],
Scott Thompson & Ross Levinsohn [interim], 6 missions
 2012-present, CEO Marissa Mayer, 5 missions

3. The first six missions
come to a total of 504
words, or 84 per
statement.
INTERNET 14
WEB 13
SERVICES 11
GUIDE 11
BRAND(ED)/S 10
ONLINE 9
COMPANY 9
BUSINESS 8
MEDIA 7
NAVIGATIONAL 6
GLOBAL 6
USER 5
TRAFFIC 5
NETWORK 5
LEADING 5
Here is the list of the
15 most frequently
used terms
The key message is
Yahoo! Inc.
(NASDAQ:YHOO) is a
global Internet media
company, a global
Internet communications,
commerce and media
company, and if you still
don’t get it, a leading
global Internet
communications,
commerce and media
company.

4. The next six missions add up to 211
words, or 35 per statement. INTERNET 11
WORLDWIDE 8
LEADING 6
GLOBAL(LY) 6
BRAND 6
TRAFFICKED 4
SERVICES 4
PRODUCTS 4
ONLINE 4
BUSINESSES 4
PROVIDER 3
DESTINATIONS 3
CONSUMERS 3
COMPREHENSIVE 3
USERS 3
Here is the list of the
15 most frequently
used terms
Yahoo! Inc. becomes
a leading provider,
then a leading global
Internet brand, and
for the first time (the
one and only)
officially formalized
his “mission”
(mission 11):
“Yahoo!'s mission is
to connect people to
their passions, their
communities, and
the world's
knowledge”.

5. The six missions in the third period
average 53 words per mission (total 320)
INTERNET 7
ONLINE 6
MEDIA 5
COMPANY 5
WORLD 4
TRAFFICKED 4
TECHNOLOGY 4
MILLIONS 4
INNOVATIVE 4
EXPERIENCES 4
DESTINATIONS 4
CONTENT 4
VISION 3
USERS 3
SERVICES 3
Here is the list of the
15 most frequently
used terms
It was during this
period that the
company officially
formalized his
“vision” (missions
14, 15 and 16):
“Yahoo!'s vision is to
be the center of
people's online lives
by delivering
personally relevant,
meaningful Internet
experiences”.

6. The last five missions come to a total
of 256 words, or 51 per statement.
PEOPLE 5
EXPERIENCES 5
DEVICES 5
CONNECTED 5
BUSINESSES 5
BUILD 5
ADVERTISERS 5
USERS 4
FOCUSED 4
CONNECTING 4
VALUE 3
PERSONALIZED 3
GLOBE 3
ENTERTAINING 3
AUDIENCES 3
The key message of
Marissa Mayer is
Yahoo! is a
technology-powered
media company…,
Yahoo! is focused
on…, Yahoo! is a
guide focused on…
and the list of the 15
most frequently
used terms change
slightly from the
previous three lists

7. Except Yahoo, apparently: the statistical analysis of the 23 missions total 1291 words,
averaging 56 words per statement.
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
And all the terms that appear most often within each of the four periods (aside from “Yahoo”
and its variations) form a semantic cloud revealing the 40 most frequently used words:

8. Yahoo is a guide focused on informing, connecting, and entertaining our users. By
creating highly personalized experiences for our users, we keep people connected to
what matters most to them, across devices and around the world. In turn, we create
value for advertisers by connecting them with the audiences that build their businesses.
Because having too many missions & visions just means you have no mission, no vision at all!
Changing mission statements is no small thing, especially when it’s a company as big
as Yahoo! It’s a strategic decision, which you’d imagine would be backed by mature
thoughts, and not done on the fly…
But after 21 years of reflection and 23 unsuccessful attempts to create a compelling
statement for users as well as shareholders and investors, the time may have come for
Yahoo and its executives to solve this problem.
As we can see with just a glance at the cloud, the “vision” is completely lost in
the whole, which is more a cacophony offering little hope of any coherence.
Maybe that’s also why, in the last two missions, Yahoo has lost its exclamation
point. Last but not last, the current mission is:
CONCLUSION