With his co-founder David Filo, Mr Yang had been happy to take a back seat as Chief Yahoo ever since the company appointed Tim Koogle as chief executive in 1995, a year after it was launched.

• 杨致远在备忘录中给人的感觉是，他成为众人注目的焦点并不是心甘情愿的，说他是在去年6月“接受董事会的请求”成为首席执行官的。