Sunnyvale, California — Neeraj Khemlani, Yahoo!’s ex-general manager and executive in charge of news and information, on Monday announced his resignation at the Web portal to accept the position of vice president and special assistant to the CEO at the media conglomerate Hearst Corp., amid reports that new chief executive Carol Bartz was planning a major shakeup of management this week.
In his new role, Khemlani, 38, will support and coordinate digital content across Hearst, beginning March 23, he will report directly to CEO Frank Bennack, Hearst said in a statement.
“Hearst’s major operating groups have all made substantial progress towards our corporate objective of fully participating in the digital transformation,” said Hearst CEO Frank Bennack in a statement.
“The creation of this new position is intended to accelerate the progress through greater cooperation and synergy across divisional lines,” said Bennack.
“Neeraj is uniquely equipped to help me and my colleagues realize that goal,” added Bennack.
At Yahoo!, Khemlani managed original content programming across Yahoo! News, Tech, Weather and Education, and executed business and product development deals with major media companies. Earlier, he also worked as a producer for CBS News’ “60 Minutes” and “60 Minutes II” from 1998 to 2006. He also was the executive editor of Yahoo! Finance.
Furthermore, he also was a creative consultant to Imagine Entertainment and ABC Entertainment, advising scriptwriters. Khemlani started his media career as a newspaper reporter, stringing for The New York Times and The Post-Standard in Syracuse, N.Y.
Media conglomerate Hearst business includes newspapers, magazines and television stations, in addition, it holds stakes in cable networks, business publishing, Internet companies and real estate. Its daily papers include the Houston Chronicle and San Francisco Chronicle. Its magazines include Good Housekeeping and Cosmopolitan.
The news of Kehmlani’s desertion comes amid reports in the media that Yahoo!’s new CEO, Carol Bartz, is preparing to embark on a large shakeup beginning this week. The changes are expected to encompass the media unit where Khemlani worked. Bartz is delegated with bolstering clout for the company, long in the news for a string of unconsummated partnership and deal talks with the likes of Microsoft, Google and Time Warner’s AOL.
“We are sorry to see Neeraj go, but we wish him the very best,” Yahoo said in a statement. It did not name a successor.
In the same announcement, Khemlani chimed in, as well: “We are witnessing the reemergence of content and media driving value in the new world and Hearst is uniquely positioned to realize that value across multiple digital platforms and distribution points.”
“Remember, we are only in the second inning of the Internet. Hearst, with all its assets and investments, expects to take a commanding lead by the seventh-inning stretch,” he said.
Khemlani will shift to New York from California to take the new job. His departure from Yahoo was first reported in The Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital.
Bartz, a veteran Silicon Valley executive, took over the helm of the firm last month vowing to revive the ailing Internet firm. She replaced Yahoo! founder Jerry Yang, who stepped down on November 18 after a rocky tenure as chief executive of the Sunnyvale, California, firm that lasted a little over a year.
Yahoo! shares closed down 1.4% to $11.97 Monday, faring slightly better than the Nasdaq, which slipped 3.7%.