Yahoo on Wednesday named Scott Thompson, a former PayPal exec, as its CEO, effective Jan. 9.
Tim Morse, who has been serving as interim CEO, will resume his role as chief financial officer.
Most recently, Thompson was president of PayPal, but over the years, he also served as the company's senior vice president and chief technology officer.
"My immediate focus will be on getting to know the entire team and hearing more from all Yahoo's, working closely with the engineers and product teams, and diving deeply into our products and services to learn more about what our more than 700 million users find most engaging and useful," Thompson said in a statement.
"[Thompson's] deep understanding of online businesses combined with his team building and operational capabilities will restore the energy, focus, and momentum necessary to grow the core business and deliver increased value for our shareholders," Roy Bostock, chairman of the Yahoo board, said in a statement. "The search committee and the entire board concluded that he is the right leader to return the core business to a path of robust growth and industry-leading innovation."
Bostock said Thompson's primary focus will be "the core business," but what that core business might look like in the future is anyone's guess. Bostock acknowledged that "Yahoo is considering a wide range of opportunities for the company's business, as well as specific investments or dispositions of assets."
Thompson's appointment comes about four months after Yahoo unceremoniously fired former CEO Carol Bartz. In a note to staff famously sent via her iPad, Bartz said Bostock fired her over the phone without warning. Never one to mince words, Bartz later said Yahoo "f**ked me over."
Bartz succeeded Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, who stepped down as CEO in November 2008.