Jim Lanzone: Last News

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Digital media and advertising company Yahoo tapped Tressie Lieberman, a marketing veteran from the fast-food biz, as its new CMO. Lieberman, who previously worked at brands including Chipotle, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, was selected for the post “following an extensive executive search process,” according to Yahoo. She will report directly to Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone. Lieberman is Yahoo’s first executive in the chief marketing officer role since 2015, when then-CMO Kathy Savitt exited the company (prior to Yahoo’s 2016 acquisition by Verizon and its subsequent spin-out in 2021). In Yahoo’s current incarnation, marketing functions had been dispersed under the business units and now it will be centralized under the new CMO role with Lieberman.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After more than 14 years at Paramount Global and Viacom, Josh Line has departed to join Yahoo as chief marketing officer. In the new role, Line reports directly to Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone, formerly CBS’s chief digital officer and CEO of CBS Interactive. Line assumes the role after former Yahoo CMO Tressie Lieberman left to become Starbucks’ chief marketing officer last fall.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Yahoo hired Ryan Spoon, a former ESPN and BetMGM executive, as the new president of Yahoo Sports. Spoon replaces Jon Shaw, who had served as interim general manager of Yahoo Sports; Shaw will continue in a leadership role at Yahoo Sports reporting to Spoon, who reports directly to Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone. Spoon is responsible for leading growth at the internet media company’s sports vertical and “positioning it for a new generation of sports fans,” the company said in announcing his hire. Spoon has a wealth of experience across the sports and digital media industry. Most recently, he was COO at Sorare, a startup in NFT-based fantasy sports, where he played a critical role in its expansion into the U.S. market and launching Sorare: NBA and Sorare: MLB.

Yahoo is significantly scaling back its investments in advertising technology and will lay off about 1,600 employees, or 20% of its workforce, as part of the shift in strategy.

Actress and co-founder of the Honest Company (a consumer wellness products firm) Jessica Alba, has become a Yahoo board member. Alba was chosen from a group of tech, media, finance, sports entertainment and private equity. 

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorYahoo, the nearly three-decade-old internet brand, is adding six new members to the privately held company’s board, including actor and entrepreneur Jessica Alba.Verizon Media sold Yahoo last year for $5 billion to private-equity firm Apollo Group while the telco retained a 10% ownership stake. The company hired Jim Lanzone, former Tinder and CBS exec, as CEO.In addition to Lanzone and representatives from Apollo and Verizon, the new members of the Yahoo board are Alba, founder and chief creative officer of mission-driven consumer products company The Honest Co.; Aryeh Bourkoff, founder and CEO of investment bank LionTree; Cynthia Marshall, CEO of the Mark Cuban-owned Dallas Mavericks; Fouad ElNaggar, co-founder and CEO of Array; K5 Global founder and CEO Michael Kives; and Katie Stanton, founder and general partner of Moxxie Ventures, who previously was a senior exec at Twitter, Google, Yahoo, and Color.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorYahoo hired Tapan Bhat as president and GM of Yahoo Finance to oversee its financial and business vertical — marking the seasoned exec’s return to the internet media company after more than a decade.Bhat will report directly to Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone. He starts at the company May 16 and will be based in San Jose, Calif.Most recently, Bhat spent the last three years advising startups and their boards.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorAlicin Reidy Williamson is leaving Endeavor after more than two years to join Yahoo, which spun off from Verizon last year, as the media and tech company’s chief diversity and culture officer.Reidy Williamson will lead Yahoo’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts globally, reporting directly to CEO Jim Lanzone. Based in New York, she will lead the team of DEI and “employee-experience practitioners”; oversee employee engagement and strategic partnerships; and promote accountability across teams, functions and geographies.A 25-year-plus media and DEI veteran, Reidy Williamson most recently served as chief inclusion officer at Endeavor.