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Susan Decker
Susan Decker
Susan Decker
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Susan Lynne Decker (born November 17, 1962) is an American businesswoman. She was president of Yahoo! Inc in 2007 and 2008, leading the operations of the company while Jerry Yang was chief executive officer.[1] In 2017, Decker co-founded a social networking platform called Raftr.[2][3]

Key Information

Career

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Investment Research

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Decker received her Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and economics from Tufts University, and a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. She is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Prior to joining Yahoo, she worked at the U.S. investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette for 14 years.[4] She spent 12 years as an equity research analyst, providing coverage to institutional investors on more than 30 media, publishing, and advertising stocks.[5] In this capacity, she was listed by Institutional Investor magazine as a top rated analyst for ten consecutive years.[5] She subsequently became the global director of equity research, a $300 million operation.[4]

Yahoo!

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Decker was the president of Yahoo! from 2007-2009. Prior to that, she was the chief financial officer and executive vice-president of finance and administration of Yahoo from 2000 to 2007.[6] From 2006 to 2007 she was executive vice president of the Advertiser and Publisher Group in addition to her CFO responsibilities,[7] where she led a consortium with the newspaper industry, and launched a display ad platform.[8]

Decker was under consideration as CEO during Jerry Yang's CEO leadership,[9] when the company was receiving a takeover offer from Microsoft. Decker drove a proposed search deal with Google as an alternative to a transaction with Microsoft, but this was rejected by the U.S. Justice Department as a breach of United States antitrust law.[10] The company asked Yang to resign, and for the board to select an outside candidate for the CEO position.[11] Decker announced her intention to resign from the company on January 13, 2009, following the appointment of Carol Bartz as CEO.[12]

Post-Yahoo! directorships

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Decker is on the boards of directors of Automattic,[13] Berkshire Hathaway,[14] Costco,[15] SurveyMonkey,[16] Vail Resorts and Vox Media.[17] She was on the board of directors of Pixar Animation Studios from June 2004 to May 2006, until its sale to The Walt Disney Company, and on the board of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research from March 2005 to May 2007. She was named a Trustee of Save The Children in March 2010.[18]

In the fall of 2009, Decker became an Entrepreneur In Residence at the Harvard Business School, working with students in their own ventures and helping to develop and deliver the entrepreneurship-focused curriculum of the school's Immersion Experience Program.[19]

Other career

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Decker founded Raftr, a communication and community building platform for universities in 2018.[20] The app's name stems from the idea of the otter: "Otters travel in rafts — social groups of two to 100 that float together,” Decker said. “On Raftr, students can find others with common interests and get informed with what's happening on campus."

Awards and recognition

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On September 30, 2010, Decker received Harvard Business School's Alumni Achievement Award.[21]

Personal life

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Decker grew up in Denver, Colorado.[5] Decker is divorced, has three children, and lives in San Francisco, California.

References

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[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Susan Decker

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Susan Lynne Decker (born November 17, 1962) is an American business executive recognized for her tenure at Yahoo! Inc., where she advanced from to president, overseeing operations during a period of strategic challenges following the dot-com bust. Decker joined Yahoo in 2000 as , guiding the company's finances through market volatility and expansion into advertising and media sectors, before assuming the presidency in 2007 under CEO , where she managed day-to-day operations and advertiser relations. Prior to Yahoo, she spent 14 years at investment bank , rising to global director of equity research. Following her departure from Yahoo in 2009, Decker has held influential board positions at companies, including Wholesale since 2004, as lead independent director, and Corporation, contributing to and in retail, , and sectors. In 2017, she founded Raftr, Inc., serving as CEO of the platform focused on campus communications and events, reflecting her shift toward entrepreneurial ventures in community .

Early Life and Education

Upbringing and Academic Achievements

Susan Decker was born on November 17, 1962, and grew up in , , though public details regarding her childhood and specific family influences on achievement or education are scarce. Decker attended , earning a degree in 1984 with a double major in and . This combination emphasized quantitative analysis, programming, and economic principles, forming a basis for rigorous, data-oriented evaluation. She subsequently pursued graduate studies at , obtaining an MBA in 1986 that provided advanced instruction in , , and decision-making.

Professional Career

Early Roles in Finance and Investment Research

Decker commenced her professional career in finance upon earning her MBA from in 1986, joining Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) as an equity research analyst specializing in the media sector, with an initial focus on the newspaper industry. In this role, she conducted detailed , valuation assessments, and predictive analyses of media company performance, emphasizing empirical data on revenue streams, advertising trends, and competitive dynamics within print and broadcast markets. Over the subsequent 12 years as a research analyst, Decker established a verifiable record of analytical precision, earning recognition from magazine as a top-ranked analyst in media equity research for ten consecutive years from 1989 to 1998. This sustained ranking, determined through surveys of evaluating forecast accuracy, report quality, and market insights, underscored her proficiency in identifying undervalued assets and anticipating sector shifts based on quantifiable metrics rather than speculative narratives. By the mid-1990s, she advanced to managing director and ultimately global director of equity research at DLJ, overseeing a team responsible for cross-sector analysis while maintaining her media expertise, which involved rigorous scrutiny of balance sheets, projections, and macroeconomic influences on investment returns. These positions honed her capabilities in empirical forecasting and , contributing to DLJ's institutional client strategies amid the evolving media landscape of the era.

Tenure at Yahoo!

Susan Decker joined Yahoo! in June 2000 as chief financial officer, shortly after the onset of the dot-com market downturn, where she managed the company's finances amid efforts to stabilize operations and recover from the bust. In this role, she oversaw financial restructuring, including cost controls and advertiser expansion, contributing to Yahoo!'s navigation through reduced valuations and shifting internet advertising dynamics. Decker was promoted to president in June 2007 under CEO Jerry Yang, taking responsibility for global business operations, strategy, and product development amid intensifying competition from Google in search and advertising. Key strategic moves during her presidency included the rejection of Microsoft's $47.5 billion acquisition bid in February 2008, deemed undervaluing the company, followed by pursuits of alternative partnerships such as an advertising deal with Google that collapsed in November 2008 due to antitrust scrutiny. These decisions aimed to preserve independence but highlighted Yahoo!'s struggles to counter Google's dominance in search monetization. Under Decker's oversight, Yahoo! achieved advertising revenue growth, with quarterly figures rising 12% to $1.8 billion in the third quarter of , yet the company's stock price declined from approximately $27 per share in mid- to around $11 by early , reflecting investor concerns over lagging . Causal factors included Yahoo!'s failure to effectively innovate in core search algorithms and mobile platforms, where advanced more rapidly, compounded by internal silos that hindered integrated product development and strategic cohesion. Decker departed as president in amid ongoing transitions and the company's broader challenges.

Post-Yahoo! Ventures and Leadership Roles

Following her departure from Yahoo! in 2009, Decker co-founded Raftr, Inc. in 2017, assuming the role of and steering the company toward developing a social platform focused on fostering trusted community interactions. Initially conceptualized as a curated alternative to broader sites like or , Raftr emphasized organized conversations around news, sports, and entertainment, aiming to enhance user engagement through moderated, topic-specific channels. By 2019, the platform pivoted to target campuses, offering tools for event coordination, secure communications, and campus-specific discussions to build reliable peer networks amid concerns over and fragmented online experiences. This venture marked Decker's transition from large-scale corporate operations to hands-on startup , leveraging her prior expertise in digital advertising and user-centric product strategy to address gaps in authentic building. Under Decker's leadership, Raftr positioned itself as a niche tool for higher education environments, prioritizing privacy and verification features to differentiate from ad-driven generalist platforms. The company's growth reflected Decker's focus on scalable, engagement-driven , with early adopters including groups seeking alternatives to unmoderated social feeds. No public data on specific revenue milestones or user acquisition metrics has been disclosed, but the platform's evolution underscores a deliberate emphasis on controlled, value-added interactions over viral scale. Decker has sustained her influence in tech-business discourse through public insights on market dynamics. In a May 2025 CNBC appearance, she highlighted eroding consumer confidence amid rising costs and institutional challenges, attributing shifts to broader economic pressures and drawing on her operational background to analyze implications for digital and retail sectors. This commentary illustrates her ongoing role in bridging executive experience with contemporary trends in user behavior and platform viability.

Corporate Directorships

Key Board Positions and Contributions

Susan Decker has served as an on the board of Wholesale Corporation since October 2004. Her tenure aligns with the company's sustained emphasis on membership-based retail expansion, supply chain efficiencies, and international growth, during which warehouses increased from 433 locations in 2004 to over 870 by 2025, and annual revenues rose from $52.3 billion in 2004 to $254.5 billion in 2024. Costco's stock price, adjusted for splits and dividends, appreciated from approximately $35 per share in late 2004 to over $980 by mid-2025, reflecting compound annual returns exceeding 15% over the period, though such performance stems from broader market dynamics and operational strategies rather than isolated board contributions. In June 2025, Decker executed a routine insider sale of 547 shares at $980 each, reducing her direct holdings to 11,531 shares, as reported in SEC filings; such transactions are common for directors to manage diversification without indicating strategic shifts. At Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Decker has been a director since April 2007 and lead , roles involving oversight of , , and the company's adherence to long-term and disciplined capital allocation. Under this board structure, Berkshire's intrinsic value, as approximated by metrics like per share, compounded at an average annual rate of about 9% from 2007 through 2024, outpacing broader market indices in risk-adjusted terms through acquisitions and float utilization. Decker's involvement emphasizes empirical evaluation of opportunities, consistent with the firm's first-principles approach to avoiding overpayment for assets. Decker joined the board of , Inc. as an on September 24, 2015, chairing the compensation committee and serving on the nominating and governance committee. Her service coincides with Vail's acquisition-driven expansion in the leisure and skiing sector, including integrations like Peak Resorts in 2019, amid revenue growth from $1.55 billion in fiscal 2015 to $2.89 billion in fiscal 2023, though profitability has varied with weather dependencies and post-pandemic demand shifts. The company's stock returned approximately 50% cumulatively from her appointment through 2025, correlating with strategic resilience in pass pricing and Epic Pass adoption, without attributing direct causality to individual board members.

Awards and Recognition

Notable Honors and Distinctions

During her time as a media analyst and global director of equity research at from 1984 to 2000, Decker was ranked among the top analysts by magazine for ten consecutive years, spanning 1989 to 1998. As of Yahoo! Inc. from 2000 to 2007, she was designated the top CFO in the internet industry by Institutional Investor magazine in 2007. Decker received the Financial Woman of the Year award from the Financial Women's Association of in 2005, recognizing her leadership at Yahoo!. Following her departure from Yahoo! in 2009, conferred its Alumni Achievement Award upon her on September 30, 2010, the institution's highest distinction for alumni contributions.

Personal Life

Family and Relationships

Decker married Michael Dovey, a former investment banker, on July 4, 1992, after the couple met at . They had three children together. The marriage ended in , with proceedings initiated by a filing in October 2007 and culminating in a settlement approved by a Marin County judge on April 23, 2012. The five-year dispute was marked by mutual accusations of and illegal use, as well as claims of electronic bugging and fiduciary misconduct leveled by each party against the other. Child custody issues were resolved separately prior to the final asset division. The settlement divided marital assets totaling approximately $71 million, including real estate such as a Belvedere home valued at $5 million, a Laguna Beach condominium at $6 million, Tahoe properties, Napa land, and other holdings like sailboats and club memberships, though granular allocation details remained private. Decker has three children from the marriage, but no further public details on their lives or involvement in the proceedings beyond custody resolution are available, reflecting standard privacy expectations for high-profile executives' families. No verified information exists on any subsequent partnerships or remarriages as of 2025.

Legacy and Critical Assessment

Business Impact and Achievements

During Susan Decker's tenure at Yahoo! from 2000 to 2009, the company's expanded by 600 percent, growing from $1.1 billion in 2000 to approximately $7.6 billion by 2008, reflecting her contributions to and advertising scaling in the post-dot-com recovery period. As , Decker facilitated a $3 billion stock repurchase program, enhancing shareholder value amid market challenges. She also negotiated Yahoo!'s expanded entry into the Chinese market, supporting international diversification. In her corporate directorships, Decker's financial expertise has aligned with sustained performance at companies like Wholesale, where she has served since 2004, coinciding with the firm's membership-driven model fueling sales growth from $52 billion in fiscal 2004 to over $242 billion in fiscal 2023. Her board oversight emphasized data-informed strategies, contributing to Costco's outperformance relative to retail peers through efficient operations and metrics. Decker's founding of Raftr in 2017 advanced data-driven tools for higher education and organizations, enabling measurable improvements in user interaction and retention via analytics-powered platforms amid evolving landscapes. This initiative underscored her for empirical decision-making in , fostering targeted outcomes like enhanced connectivity and institutional insights.

Criticisms and Strategic Shortcomings

Decker's role in Yahoo!'s rejection of Microsoft's $44.6 billion acquisition offer in February 2008 drew significant criticism from investors and analysts, who argued it represented a failure to capitalize on a premium valuation amid the company's declining competitive position against Google. The decision, supported by Decker as president, contributed to perceptions of strategic rigidity, as Yahoo's subsequent search advertising partnership with Microsoft in 2009 failed to halt the erosion of its market share, with shares dropping from over $43 in January 2006 to around $15 by early 2009. Critics, including Wall Street observers, highlighted this as emblematic of broader missteps in adapting to shifting digital advertising dynamics, where Yahoo lagged in innovation and revenue growth. Under Decker's oversight as president from December 2007 to January 2009, Yahoo faced internal challenges including unclear strategic direction and morale issues, exacerbating the company's inability to rebuild as a tech leader. Her financial background was questioned in executing turnarounds, with detractors pointing to persistent ad revenue shortfalls and executive shake-ups, such as the reassignment of ad responsibilities amid slumping performance. These factors culminated in her departure without ascending to CEO, amid Yahoo's ongoing valuation decline that foreshadowed its piecemeal sale years later. Later reflections by Decker herself acknowledged shortcomings in Yahoo's social features and user engagement strategies during her tenure, which informed her post-Yahoo venture Raftr aimed at addressing similar networking pitfalls. However, some board-level contributions post-Yahoo, such as at , have faced indirect scrutiny for limited public impact on activist investor defenses, though direct criticisms remain tied primarily to her Yahoo era.

References

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