Marissa Mayer, Google's 20th employee and its first female engineer, announced today that she's jumping ship after 13 years and has accepted a job as Yahoo's first female CEO — and its fifth CEO in as many years. Google's first female engineer, she was most recently in charge of local and location services, including Google Maps, Google Earth and Zagat.
Mayer told the New York Times she considers Yahoo "one of the best brands on the Internet." Mayer had another big piece of news today: she's expecting her first child, a son, with husband Zack Broyer, a Silicon Valley investor, in October. She tells Fortune, "My maternity leave will be a few weeks long and I'll work throughout it."
According to Yahoo's press release, Mayer managed some of Google's most successful innovations, launching more than 100 features and products including image, book and product search, toolbar, iGoogle, Google News, and Gmail — creating much of the "look and feel" of the Google user experience.
Mayer received her B.S. in Symbolic Systems and her M.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University, specializing in artificial intelligence for both degrees. She is credited as an inventor on several patents in artificial intelligence and interface design.
Yahoo! Co-Founder David Filo commented, "Marissa is a well-known, visionary leader in user experience and product design and one of Silicon Valley's most exciting strategists in technology development. I look forward to working with her to enhance Yahoo's product offerings for our over 700 million unique monthly visitors."
"The Board of Directors unanimously agreed that Marissa's unparalleled track record in technology, design, and product execution makes her the right leader for Yahoo! at this time of enormous opportunity," stated Fred Amoroso, Chairman of the Board of Directors.
"Yahoo!'s products will continue to enhance our partnerships with advertisers, technology and media companies, while inspiring and delighting our users. There is a lot to do and I can't wait to get started," Mayer commented. As for Yahoo's interim CEO, Ross Levinsohn, Mayer had no comment.
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