Marissa Mayer Named Yahoo CEO, Will Start Tomorrow

Marissa Mayer, the long-time Google executive, has been named Yahoo president and CEO, the New York Times first reported.

She resigned from Google Monday and starts at Yahoo Tuesday.

Mayer had been at Google for 13 years, where she led products such as search and local. She told the Times, “It was a reasonably easy decision” to take the Yahoo job as it’s “one of the best brands on the Internet.”

Mayer said in a statement,

I am honored and delighted to lead Yahoo, one of the internet’s premier destinations for more than 700 million users. I look forward to working with the Company’s dedicated employees to bring innovative products, content, and personalized experiences to users and advertisers all around the world.

Ross Levinsohn had been Yahoo’s interim CEO after the departure of Scott Thompson in May. The Yahoo board had been considering him for a more permanent position along with other candidates, including Hulu CEO Jason Kilar.

The move is a big promotion for Mayer, who has not been part of the core leadership team at Larry Page’s Google despite her long tenure and previous influence at the company.

The Yahoo board, which Mayer will join, said its decision was unanimous.

Mayer has an undergrad degree in symbolic systems and a masters in computer science (yes, a real one) from Stanford University. She is also on the board of Walmart, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Ballet and the New York City Ballet.

Shares of Yahoo, which reports its quarterly earnings tomorrow, were up two percent in after-hours trading.

Mayer’s former Google boss, SVP Commerce and Local Jeff Huber, tweeted his congratulations:

And here’s Google CEO Larry Page’s statement:

“Since arriving at Google just over 13 years ago as employee #20, Marissa has been a tireless champion of our users. She contributed to the development of our Search, Geo, and Local products. We will miss her talents at Google.”

Also, here’s a statement from Eric Schmidt:

“I worked with Marissa for many years — she’s a great product person, very innovative and a real perfectionist who always wants the best for users. Yahoo has made a good choice and I am personally very excited to see another woman become CEO of a technology company. Best wishes to Marissa and Yahoo!”