Yahoo Appoints Cost-Cutter Tim Morse as CFO

By Geoff Duncan Published June 12, 2009

Yahoo Appoints Cost-Cutter Tim Morse as CFO — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Internet giant Yahoo has ended its three-and-a-half month search to find a replacement for CFO Blake Jorgensen: the company has appointed Altera’s Tim Morse as chief financial officer. Morse will start on June 17 and take over full CFO responsibilities on July 1.

"Tim has a proven ability to translate strategy into structure, process, and execution, and I am delighted that he will be joining my leadership team to help drive Yahoo’s growth," said Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, in a statement. "With his passion for operational finance, global experience, and expertise simplifying complex organizations and managing growth, Tim is a natural fit for Yahoo."

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Morse leaves the CFO position at chip maker Altera; before that, he put in fifteen years at General Electric, including CFO and general manager of business development for General Electric Plastics. At Altera, Morse cut general and administrative expenses by some 16 percent.

Current Yahoo CFO Jorgensen had announced plans to leave the company shortly after new CEO Carol Bartz took the company’s reins from Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang. Since then, Bartz has been working to streamline Yahoo and make the company more nimble and able to compete not only with the likes of Google, but with social networking powerhouses like Facebook and Twitter. In Morse, Bartz has found a cost-cutting expert who will doubtless move quickly to cut Yahoo’s operational costs, possibly by selling off or shutting down portions of Yahoo’s operations, although Bartz has indicated she doesn’t expect another large round of job cuts at the company.

"Yahoo is an amazing brand with a unique combination of assets, and I am extremely excited to be joining a finance team with a deep commitment to financial excellence and fiscal discipline," said Morse.

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