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Here it is, the internal memo to Yahoo staff about the sudden — though it was not sudden, by any means — leave-taking today of its COO, Henrique De Castro, courtesy of one of my 10,563 sources left at Yahoo!
In it, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer makes clear she dumped the former Google exec, whom she had once effusively praised.
Earlier today, I noted that De Castro was shown the door, and Mayer said the same in her email.
Referring to the beginning of the year, she wrote to staffers: “During my own reflection, I made the difficult decision that our COO, Henrique de Castro, should leave the company. I appreciate Henrique’s contributions and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
In other words: I am going to try to appear honest and forthright here, hoping it will make people forget that I did the hiring, I paid him too much and I did not act sooner when it was clear that it was not working out. (De Castro is even making out like a bandit upon being bounced, with a giant payday.)
What refreshing candor! (Modified kudos, I guess, but was there a choice?)
Now, pretty much everyone is reporting to Mayer, according to her info about the new management shifts. And, after much knife-in-back machinating for months against him, CMO Kathy Savitt finally wrests the media unit from De Castro’s cold, um, you know, hands.
Oh, just read the memo:
YAHOO PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL — DO NOT FORWARD
The beginning of a new year always provides time for reflection. As we enter 2014, I couldn’t be more proud of what Yahoo accomplished in 2013 or more optimistic about what we’ll accomplish in 2014. I want to thank all of you for being so engaged and so thoughtful around the direction of the company.
During my own reflection, I made the difficult decision that our COO, Henrique de Castro, should leave the company. I appreciate Henrique’s contributions and wish him the best in his future endeavors.
Effective today, we will restructure the leadership of the operating organization as follows:
— Dawn Airey, John Devine, Ned Brody, and Rose Tsou will report directly to me.
— I’ve asked Kathy Savitt to lead our media and editorial functions.
— Several functions in the COO org align well with product initiatives in Mike Kern’s Homepages & Verticals group and will report there moving forward.
We’ll reach out to specific individuals on reporting changes. As always, there may be further changes to increase alignment and sharpen our media and product focus; those changes will be messaged within the affected groups.
Overall, I am confident that the leadership team, our direction, and these changes will enable even more successful execution. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through these changes.
Marissa
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
