Lenovo Appoints Yahoo! Co-founder Jerry Yang as Board Observer Yahoo! Co-Founder Joins Former ARM President Tudor Brown as Latest Additions to Lenovo Board
Today, Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) announced the appointment of technology pioneer, founder and former CEO of Yahoo!, Jerry Yang, as an observer of its Board of Directors. As observer, Mr. Yang will attend board meetings, sharing his experience and perspective as an Internet and technology pioneer.
“Jerry’s appointment as an observer to our board furthers Lenovo’s reputation as a transparent international company,” said Mr. Yang Yuanqing, Chairman and CEO of Lenovo. “As Lenovo continues to build on its momentum and establish itself as a global technology leader, Jerry’s perspective, experience and proven entrepreneurial spirit will help us continue to drive growth and expand our business. I am delighted to have him as a Board observer and look forward to his contributions as we continue our drive to leadership in the PC Plus era.”
“I am honored to join Lenovo as a board observer at an exciting time in its growth. I look forward to leveraging my past experience as a technology entrepreneur and innovator to provide advice as Lenovo looks at new areas of growth. I believe that Lenovo's strong leadership team, coupled with their innovative strategy positions them well for continued success as a global leader in technology," said Jerry Yang, recently named Lenovo board observer.
The appointment comes as Lenovo continues bring in leaders to help guide the company’s long term strategy. In January, Lenovo announced Tudor Brown was appointed as an independent non-executive director of the Company. Mr. Brown is a Chartered Engineer and holds an MA degree in Electrical Sciences from Cambridge University. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Brown was one of the founders of ARM Holdings plc, where he held many positions including Engineering Director, Chief Technical Officer, Executive Vice President for Global Development and Chief Operating Officer. He served as a director at ARM Holdings plc from October 2001 to May 3, 2012 and became President of ARM Holdings plc in July 2008.
“In Jerry Yang and Tudor Brown, Lenovo is bringing a wealth of experience and tremendous vision for the future to our company, and we believe that they will add a great deal to our strategic thinking, long-term direction and, ultimately, our ability to achieve our aspirations in the PC plus era,” Lenovo’s Yang added.
Lenovo continues to deliver record earnings. Earlier this month, Lenovo reported that it continued to outgrow the market in all geographies with record sales, earnings and global PC market share. Lenovo delivered another quarterly sales record of $9.4 billion, a 12 percent year-over-year increase, while it has been the fastest growing major PC company for 13 straight quarters.
Lenovo has built momentum towards being world’s leading PC maker while at the same time rapidly expanding its PC Plus footprint – including smartphones, tablets and smart TV that will drive future growth. Lenovo was recognized by IDC as the world’s third largest maker of "smart
connected devices", such as tablets, PCs and smartphones. Its smartphone business in China reached the number 2 position and Lenovo has begun launching smartphones in a number of new emerging markets. Additionally, last quarter, Lenovo’s Mobile Internet and Digital Home business contributed 11% of global revenue – a record high and strong indicator that the company is delivering strong growth in the PC Plus market.
About Jerry Yang
Mr. Yang co-founded Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ YHOO) in April 1995 and served as its chief executive officer from June 2007 to January 2009. He also served as a member of the board of directors of Yahoo! Inc. until January 2012. Mr. Yang served as a key member of the executive management team and focused on corporate strategy and technology vision. Mr. Yang was also instrumental in building strategic business partnerships, international joint ventures and recruiting key talent.
Mr. Yang also served as a director of Yahoo Japan Corporation (a company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Osaka Securities Exchange) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. until January 2012; and a director of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ CSCO) from July 2000 to November 2012. Mr. Yang holds a Master’s Degree and Bachelor's Degree of Science in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
As a board observer, Mr. Yang will not have the power to vote at any Board meeting and may not exercise any other rights of a director at such meeting.
ABOUT LENOVO
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a US$30 billion personal technology company – the second largest PC maker in the world and an emerging PC Plus leader – serving customers in more than 160 countries. Dedicated to building exceptionally engineered PCs and mobile internet devices, Lenovo’s business is built on product innovation, a highly-efficient global supply chain and strong strategic execution. Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the Company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services. Its product lines include legendary Think-branded commercial PCs and Idea-branded consumer PCs, as well as servers, workstations, and a family of mobile internet devices, including tablets and smart phones. Lenovo, a global Fortune 500 company, has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information see www.lenovo.com.
