One of the leading executives at Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Jacqueline Reses is leaving the company to join Jack Dorsey’s payment firm Square Inc., according to a report published by CNET citing sources with the knowledge of the matter.
Reses had been working as the chief development officer at YHOO. Her role changed few months ago when she moved her focus to Yahoo’s spinoff of its stake, worth $27 billion approx., in Alibaba Group Holding, according to the report.
The latest news comes just days after Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) named Dorsey as its permanent CEO. Dorsey also holds the same position at Square, which is set for its IPO. Adding Reses could help lighten the burden for Dorsey as he is managing two companies at a time.
Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer has been running the company for about three years. Mayer has struggled to establish a stable management as the company lost ground to the search engine giant Google, social network giant Facebook and others.
Kathy Savitt, chief marketing officer employed under the supervision of Mayer, also left the company to join STX Entertainment. Head of North America ad sales, Kevin Gentzel and senior VP, Mike Kerns, both left Yahoo and joined other firms.
A spokesperson for YHOO refused to comment on the report, while Square also didn’t responded to the story.
Reses is departing at a time when YHOO is looking forward to spin off its 15 percent stake in Alibaba Group by the end of 2015. She was on the board of Alibaba before it went public. She played a critical role in establishing a stronger bond between the companies. Before joining Yahoo, she also worked at Goldman Sachs Group and Apax Partners.
Square was started in 2009 and the firm is famous for its dongle, which converts smartphones into credit-card readers.
