Waterloo for Yahoo co-founder

Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo, will step down from his position as chief executive officer as soon as a replacement has been appointed, the Financial Times reports.

The announcement of his departure, after less than 18 months at the helm, follows repeated denials from Yahoo in recent weeks that he was about to be replaced.

Yang infuriated many of Yahoo's shareholders for turning down Microsoft's repeated offers for the company earlier this year.

Appropriately enough, the FT says Yahoo has hired executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles to look for his replacement.

Under two weeks ago, Yang told a Web 2.0 summit in California that he would "to go through walls" for Yahoo, in an attempt to stem speculation that he would leave.