Guide Note

Brad Garlinghouse is an American businessman who was formerly Yahoo's Senior Vice President of Communications and Communities. He was in charge of some of Yahoo's most popular services, including Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Messenger and Flickr.¹ Garlinghouse announced in June 2008 that he would be leaving Yahoo after a period of transition.²

Fast Facts

1. Earned Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Kansas
2. Earned MBA from Harvard University
3. Began career as a venture capitalist
4. Was a general partner with the venture capital firm, @Ventures
5. Joined Yahoo in March, 2003 as Vice President of Communications Products³
6. Was in charge of Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Messenger, Yahoo Groups, Flickr and Zimbra¹
7. Released the controversial "Peanut Butter Manifesto" in 2006
8. Announced resignation in 2008
9. Will be succeeded by Scott Dietzen after a transition period of unspecified length²

Garlinghouse's Peanut Butter Manifesto was an internal memo which, while still hopeful, called for major changes throughout Yahoo. In it, he made rather controversial suggestions, including restructuring the corporate organization, reducing staff by 15-20% and focusing on core services.⁴ The memo name is derived from a metaphor used to describe Yahoo's strategy of spreading itself over many different services.