Yahoo Connected Life head Marco Boerries resigns

Marco Boerries, executive vice president of Yahoo's Connected Life division and the face of the web services giant's mobile efforts, is resigning his post according to an internal email obtained by The Wall Street Journal's BoomTown blog. Boerries' departure arrives amidst speculation new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz is poised to unveil a sweeping new management structure, perhaps as soon as this week. Boerries' exit apparently has long been expected inside the Yahoo ranks; his loyalty to former CEO Jerry Yang is cited as the key factor that extended his tenure despite ongoing corporate turmoil that culminated last year in rival Microsoft's unsolicited $44.6 billion buyout bid.

"With a very heavy heart I have to tell you, that I will be leaving Yahoo," reads the email Boerries sent to staffers on Sunday. "Most of you know about my personal situation, the ‘living in 2 continents' and the importance of my family to me. I cannot reconcile these personal needs, my future plans and ambitions and Yahoo anymore. And that's why it is time to say goodbye... I had four extremely interesting, exciting and mostly fun years at Yahoo in which we developed and gained a leadership position in Mobile against all odds and are about to do the same for the Connected TV space."

In late 2008, FierceWireless named Boerries the 16th most powerful person in the wireless industry, noting the significant advances made by Yahoo's mobile unit under his leadership. With Yahoo's traditional web revenues eroding, the company looked to the mobile platform as the next evolution of its business, and Boerries responded with a series of new initiatives including a revamped Yahoo Go 3.0 mobile portal, a new mobile advertising initiative and a Mobile Developer Platform. Other milestones: a multi-platform advertising effort dubbed Apex, a mobile content management solution called onePlace, a voice-enabled version of its oneSearch mobile search application and a mobile advertising revenue agreement with AT&T, not to mention a number of additional international search and marketing deals.

Boerries' exit follows just one week after he traveled to Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona to announce the pending launch of the new Yahoo Mobile service, promising a personalized mobile starting point to the web. Available now as a managed beta program, with a consumer introduction planned for Q2 2009, Yahoo Mobile features an open environment giving consumers the latitude to create a customized user experience bringing together their favorite web content and services. "[Yahoo Mobile] allows you to discover what's going on in the world today," Boerries said during a press conference to announce the service. Yahoo Mobile will launch in late March across feature phones and Apple's iPhone, with other smartphones scheduled to follow in late May--Boerries said an Android version is presently in development.

For more on Boerries' exit:
- read this BoomTown blog entry

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