Top Exec Ventures Out Of Yahoo

Joining the increasing exodus from Yahoo, Jeff Weiner, executive vice president of the company's Network Division, Tuesday confirmed that he is leaving the company to work with venture capital firms.

Accel Partners and Greylock Partners have named Weiner as executive in residence. In a statement, Accel Partners said that in his new role, Weiner will advise the leadership teams of existing Accel and Greylock consumer technology portfolio companies, and will also work with the firm's partners to evaluate new investment opportunities. Weiner's role becomes effective in September.

"We are thrilled to have access to Jeff's perspective on web product strategy and operations," Theresia Ranzetta, General Partner at Accel, said in a statement. "Additionally, we look forward to leveraging Jeff's expertise regarding the convergence of media and technology for existing and future Accel portfolio properties."

Before his role at Yahoo's Network Division, Weiner was part of the Search leadership team that was in charge of acquisitions and integrations of Inktomi, AltaVista, FAST as well as the development of Yahoo! Search Technology. Weiner also helped launch the company's suite of social search products -- including Yahoo Answers, and led the acquisitions of del.icio.us and Flickr.

In recent weeks, Yahoo has seen the exit of Jeremy Zawodny, a technology evangelist, and Dr. Usama Fayyad, executive vice president of research and strategic data solutions. Both former employees deny their departure is related to the recent Yahoo/Microsoft dustup in which Yahoo spurred Microsoft's advances for a merger. Billionaire Carl Icahn, who owns a major chunk of Yahoo stock, was outraged when the board voted down Microsoft's proposal. He is still intent to shakeup the company and has called for the ouster of CEO Jerry Yang as well as the entire board of directors.

Other recent Yahoo employees who are now alumni include: Bradley Horowitz, head of Yahoo's advanced technology division; Salim Ismail, head of Yahoo Brickhouse; Jeff Bonforte, vice president of social search; Ian Rogers, vice president of Yahoo Music; and Matthew Berardo, senior director of International Business and Product Management, according to the Web site Tech Crunch.