Jerry Yang

Jerry Yang
Born	Yang Chih-Yuan 6 11, 1968
Birthplace	Taipei, Taiwan
Nationality	American
Occupation	Venture capitalist, internet entrepreneur
Known for	Co-founder of Yahoo!, Founding Partner of AME Cloud Ventures
Education	Stanford University (BS, MS, Electrical Engineering)
Spouse(s)	Akiko Yamazaki
Awards	Asia Game Changer Award (2023)

Jerry Chih-Yuan Yang (Template:Lang; born November 6, 1968) is a Taiwanese-born American computer programmer, internet entrepreneur, and venture capitalist who co-founded Yahoo! Inc. in 1995 alongside fellow Stanford University graduate student David Filo. What began as a hobby project cataloguing websites in a Stanford trailer evolved into one of the defining companies of the early internet era, and Yang became one of the most prominent figures in Silicon Valley during the late 1990s and 2000s. He served on Yahoo!'s board of directors and as a member of its executive team for nearly two decades, including a stint as chief executive officer from 2007 to 2009. After departing Yahoo! in 2012, Yang founded AME Cloud Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on technology investments, and became an active investor in companies across the United States and Asia. Yang has also maintained deep ties to Stanford University, where he has served as chair of the Board of Trustees since 2021.

Early Life

Jerry Yang was born Yang Chih-Yuan on November 6, 1968, in Taipei, Taiwan. His father died when Yang was two years old, and he was raised by his mother, who was an English and drama teacher. Yang has a brother, Chih-Kong Ken Yang.

Yang's mother moved the family to San Jose, California, when Jerry was approximately ten years old. At the time of his arrival in the United States, Yang reportedly knew only one word of English: "shoe." He learned the language rapidly and adapted to his new surroundings, excelling academically in the American school system. Yang's early experiences as an immigrant in the San Jose area shaped his perspective and work ethic. He attended Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose, where he demonstrated strong aptitude in mathematics and science.

Education

Yang enrolled at Stanford University, where he studied electrical engineering. He earned both his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in electrical engineering in 1990. He subsequently entered Stanford's doctoral program in the same discipline. It was during his time as a Ph.D. candidate that Yang, along with classmate David Filo, began the project that would eventually become Yahoo!. Yang did not complete his doctoral degree, opting instead to pursue the commercial potential of the company he and Filo had created.

Stanford would remain a central institution in Yang's life throughout his career. The university later recognized him as one of its "Engineering Heroes" for his contributions to technology and his subsequent philanthropic support of the school.

Career

Founding of Yahoo!

In 1994, while enrolled as doctoral students at Stanford University, Jerry Yang and David Filo began maintaining a list of their favorite websites as a hobby. Working out of a campus trailer, the two organized their growing collection of links into a hierarchical directory, initially called "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web." The site quickly attracted users seeking a curated way to navigate the rapidly expanding internet. They renamed it "Yahoo!" — an acronym often cited as standing for "Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle" — and the project grew from an academic pastime into a full-time endeavor.

Yahoo! Inc. was officially incorporated on March 2, 1995, and the company secured early venture capital funding that allowed it to scale its operations. The Yahoo! web directory, and later its search engine and web portal, became one of the most visited sites on the internet during the mid-to-late 1990s. The company went public in April 1996, and its stock price surged during the dot-com bubble, making both Yang and Filo billionaires on paper.

Throughout Yahoo!'s early years, Yang served in multiple roles, including as a member of the board of directors and as "Chief Yahoo," an informal title that reflected his status as the company's public face and guiding spirit. He was instrumental in shaping the company's strategy and culture during its formative period, overseeing its expansion into email, news, finance, and other web services that made Yahoo! a dominant internet portal.

Alibaba Investment

One of Yang's most consequential business decisions was championing Yahoo!'s investment in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group. In 2005, Yahoo! invested approximately $1 billion in Alibaba in exchange for a 40 percent stake in the company, a deal that Yang personally helped negotiate with Alibaba founder Jack Ma. At the time, the investment was viewed by some observers with skepticism, as Alibaba was not yet a household name outside China.

The investment proved enormously profitable. When Alibaba went public on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014 in what was then the largest initial public offering in history, Yahoo!'s remaining stake was valued at tens of billions of dollars. Fortune described Yang as "the most successful American investor in China" in recognition of the deal's outsized returns. The Alibaba investment became the single most valuable asset on Yahoo!'s balance sheet and fundamentally altered the company's financial trajectory. Analysts and industry commentators frequently cited the Alibaba stake as a defining example of Yang's strategic foresight in identifying opportunities in Asian technology markets.

CEO of Yahoo!

On June 18, 2007, Yang was named chief executive officer of Yahoo!, succeeding Terry Semel. He assumed the role at a challenging time for the company. Yahoo! was facing intensifying competition from Google in search advertising and was struggling to define its identity in a rapidly shifting internet landscape.

Yang's tenure as CEO was marked by a high-profile, contentious episode involving Microsoft. In early 2008, Microsoft made an unsolicited bid to acquire Yahoo! for approximately $44.6 billion, or $31 per share. Yang and the Yahoo! board ultimately rejected the offer, arguing that it undervalued the company. The decision was controversial among shareholders, some of whom believed the Microsoft bid represented a favorable exit opportunity given Yahoo!'s declining market position. Time magazine reported on the shareholder backlash and the broader strategic questions surrounding Yang's leadership during this period.

In November 2008, amid continued investor dissatisfaction and declining stock performance, Yang announced he would step down as CEO. He was replaced by Carol Bartz in January 2009. Yang remained on Yahoo!'s board of directors and continued to serve in an advisory capacity following his departure from the CEO role.

China Controversy

Yang's tenure at Yahoo! was also marked by controversy surrounding the company's operations in China. In 2005, it was reported that Yahoo!'s Chinese operations had provided user account information to Chinese authorities, leading to the arrest and imprisonment of journalist Shi Tao, who had used a Yahoo! email account to communicate with foreign media. The case drew sharp criticism from press freedom organizations, including Reporters Without Borders, which condemned Yahoo!'s role in the affair.

The incident led to congressional hearings in the United States, during which Yang and Yahoo!'s general counsel testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Yang apologized to Shi Tao's family during the hearing in November 2007. Yahoo! subsequently reached financial settlements with the families of detained dissidents and established a human rights fund. The episode remained a significant and sobering chapter in the history of American technology companies' engagement with authoritarian regimes.

Departure from Yahoo!

In January 2012, Yang resigned from Yahoo!'s board of directors and from all other positions he held at the company. His departure marked the end of a nearly two-decade association with the company he had co-founded. Around the same period, Yang also retired from the board of Cisco Systems, where he had served as a director.

AME Cloud Ventures

Following his departure from Yahoo!, Yang founded AME Cloud Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage and growth-stage technology investments. The firm's name is derived from the Chinese character for "cloud" (雲), reflecting Yang's interest in cloud computing and data-driven technologies. AME Cloud Ventures has invested in a wide range of technology companies across sectors including artificial intelligence, data infrastructure, and consumer technology.

Yang has discussed his approach to investing, including his views on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. In a 2025 appearance on Yahoo Finance, he shared his perspective on the growth of AI, stating that "the wave is coming" and discussing the implications for the technology industry.

Personal Life

Yang is married to Akiko Yamazaki, a Japanese-born American who is also a Stanford graduate. The couple has been involved in extensive philanthropic activities, particularly in education and the arts. Together, they have made significant donations to Stanford University. In 2007, Yang and Yamazaki made a major gift to Stanford that contributed to the construction of the Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building (Y2E2), a facility dedicated to environmental and energy research.

Yang and Yamazaki have also supported other cultural and educational institutions. Their philanthropic focus areas include science, technology, education, and the arts, with a particular emphasis on institutions with ties to the Asian-American community and cross-Pacific cultural exchange.

Recognition

Yang has received numerous awards and honors over the course of his career. In 1999, he was named to the MIT Technology Review's TR100 list (later renamed Innovators Under 35), which recognizes outstanding young innovators in technology.

Stanford University has recognized Yang as one of its "Engineering Heroes" for his contributions to the field of technology and his philanthropic support of the university. In January 2021, he was elected chair of the Stanford University Board of Trustees, a position in which he has helped guide the university through leadership transitions and strategic planning. In a 2023 interview with the Stanford Report, Yang reflected on the university's direction and his role in overseeing its governance during a period of institutional change.

In 2023, Yang and his wife Akiko Yamazaki received the Asia Game Changer Award from the Asia Society, which recognized their contributions to technology, philanthropy, and cross-cultural engagement between the United States and Asia.

Yang has also been recognized by The New York Times, which maintained a dedicated topics page covering his career and influence in the technology industry.

Legacy

Jerry Yang's legacy is closely tied to the founding and growth of Yahoo!, a company that played a foundational role in shaping the consumer internet. During the mid-to-late 1990s, Yahoo! was among the most visited websites in the world and served as a primary gateway through which millions of users accessed information, email, news, and online services. While the company's fortunes declined in the 2000s amid competition from Google and other rivals, Yahoo!'s early innovations in web portals, directory-based search, and online advertising helped establish business models and user behaviors that continue to define the internet.

Yang's role in brokering Yahoo!'s investment in Alibaba stands as one of the most consequential venture investments in the history of the technology industry. The deal not only generated enormous financial returns for Yahoo!'s shareholders but also demonstrated the potential for American technology companies to participate in the growth of China's internet economy.

Beyond his corporate career, Yang's post-Yahoo! activities through AME Cloud Ventures have positioned him as an active participant in the ongoing development of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and cloud computing. His leadership role at Stanford as chair of the Board of Trustees has also given him influence over the direction of one of the world's leading research universities, particularly in areas related to technology, energy, and the humanities.

Yang's career trajectory — from Taiwanese immigrant learning English in San Jose to co-founder of one of the internet's earliest and most prominent companies — has made him a notable figure in the history of both American entrepreneurship and the broader global technology industry.