Ellen Siminoff

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Ellen Siminoff
Born
Ellen Friedman[1]

1967 (age 56–57)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
NationalityAmerican
EducationB.A., Princeton University
MBA, Stanford University
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, Investor
Years active1996–present
Known forYahoo! (founding executive)
Shmoop (co-founder)
Spouse
​
(m. 1994)​
Children2

Ellen Siminoff (born 1967, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an entrepreneur and investor. Frequently quoted in The New York Times as an Internet industry commentator,[2][3][4][5] Siminoff was named one of Forbes magazine's Masters of Information in 2005.[6]

Along with her husband, David Siminoff, Ellen is co-founder and former chief executive officer of Shmoop.[7]

Life and education[edit]

Siminoff obtained a BA in economics from Princeton University and an MBA from Stanford University,[8] where she met her husband David Siminoff while they were students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.[9]

Career[edit]

Yahoo![edit]

Siminoff was a founding executive at Yahoo!,[10] working at the company from 1996 to 2002.[11] She started by running corporate and business development, running mergers and acquisitions after the departure of J. J. Healy.[12] Later Siminoff moved to Senior Vice President of Entertainment and Small Business, with Toby Coppel and Jeff Weiner taking over corporate development.[13] Six months later, Yahoo announced on April 13, 2002, that Siminoff decided to leave the company in order to spend more time with family, and would stay through until the end of the year.[14][12] Her departure was part of a high-profile exodus of Yahoo executives, including CEO Timothy Koogle, CFO Gary Valenzuela, sales chief Anil Singh, head of international operations Heather Killen, and marketing head Karen Edwards.[14]

Efficient Frontier[edit]

Siminoff was former chairman and CEO of Efficient Frontier.[15] In July 2006 Bloomberg Businessweek noted that Efficient Frontier was the largest buyer of search advertising keywords on Google,[16] and in March 2008 Silicon Alley Insider named Efficient Frontier one of the 25 most valuable privately held companies in Silicon Valley, valued at an estimated $275 million.[17] Adobe Inc. bought Efficient Frontier for $400 million in 2012.[18][19]

Mozilla[edit]

On March 24, 2014, Siminoff and two other board members of the Mozilla Corporation resigned from the board in advance of Brendan Eich's appointment as CEO of Mozilla.[20][21][22] Eich was noted for his donation of $1,000 to California Proposition 8, which called for the banning of same-sex marriage in California. Eich resigned from Mozilla 11 days later, on April 3, 2014.[23][24]

Other board positions[edit]

Siminoff sits on the board of directors for Journal Media Group,[25] U.S. Auto Parts,[26] and Zynga.[27][28] Siminoff formerly was a board member at SolarWinds.[29]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Trewyn, Phill. "Ex-Yahoo! exec from Milwaukee plots next move," Milwaukee Business Journal (Feb 17, 2002).
  2. ^ Markoff, John (2007-05-05). "Rumors Fly on Microsoft and Yahoo". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Helft, Miguel (2006-12-07). "Industry Insiders Praise Yahoo Choice for Key Post". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Helft, Miguel (2008-04-03). "Google Cutting 300 Jobs at DoubleClick". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Helft, Miguel (2007-02-05). "A Long-Delayed Ad System Has Yahoo Crossing Its Fingers". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Hardy, Quentin (2005-09-05). "2005 E-Gang: The Keyword Keeper". Forbes.com. Archived from the original on November 24, 2005. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  7. ^ Ringle, Hayley. "Silicon Valley edtech company founded by former Yahoo executive moves HQ to Scottsdale: Affordable talent a driving factor in company relocation, exec says," Phoenix Business Journal (July 1, 2019).
  8. ^ "Q&A with Efficient Frontier's Ellen Siminoff". iMediaConnection.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-22. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  9. ^ Journal, Kara SwisherStaff Reporter of The Wall Street (6 January 1999). "The Couple of Silicon Valley: They Are Definitely Connected". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 May 2020. They met at Stanford Business School in 1991 and fell in love while making a killing.
  10. ^ Musil, Steven. "Zynga adds ex-Yahoo exec Ellen Siminoff to board of directors". CNET. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  11. ^ MacMillan, Douglas (2012-07-19). "Zynga Adds Diversity to Board With Yahoo Veteran Ellen Siminof". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  12. ^ a b Angel, Karen (2002). Inside Yahoo!: Reinvention and the Road Ahead. John Wiley & Sons. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-471-42102-3.
  13. ^ "Yahoo! Directors & Officers". Yahoo. Archived from the original on 2013-03-19.
  14. ^ a b Hu, Jim. "Yahoo loses key senior exec". CNET. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Board Members". Efficient Frontier. Archived from the original on 2008-07-04.
  16. ^ "Efficient Frontier: Hacking Madison Avenue". BusinessWeek. 2006-07-23. Archived from the original on 2012-06-22. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  17. ^ "23. Efficient Frontier". Business Insider. 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
  18. ^ Bloom, Jeremy (2015). Fueled By Failure: Using Detours and Defeats to Power Progress. Entrepreneur Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-61308-307-9. [David Karnstedt] later went on to run North American sales for Yahoo! And became CEO of a unified software advertising platform called Efficient Frontier, a company that would later sell to Adobe for $400 million.
  19. ^ "Adobe Completes Acquisition of Efficient Frontier". Adobe. 2012-01-16. Retrieved 27 May 2020. Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the completion of its acquisition of privately held Efficient Frontier
  20. ^ Bilton, Nick. "At Mozilla, a Chief’s Support of Gay Marriage Ban Causes Conflict," New York Times (MARCH 31, 2014).
  21. ^ "Leadership Changes" (blog). Mozilla. March 24, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  22. ^ Alistair Barr. "Three Mozilla Board Members Resign over Choice of New CEO". WSJ. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25. Retrieved 2017-08-04.
  23. ^ Newton, Casey (3 April 2014). "Outfoxed: how protests forced Mozilla's CEO to resign in 11 days". The Verge. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  24. ^ Kim, Susana (April 3, 2014). "Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich Resigns After Protests from Gay Marriage Supporters". ABC News. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  25. ^ "Journal Communications, Inc. Elects Ellen Siminoff to Board of Directors" (Press release). Business Wire. February 14, 2007.
  26. ^ Siminoff, Ellen F. "Ellen Siminoff: Executive Profile & Biography". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  27. ^ Tracy, Abigail (2012-07-20). "Zynga adds Ellen Siminoff to Board of Directors". Inc. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  28. ^ "Zynga Appoints Ellen Siminoff to Board of Directors". Zynga. 2012-07-19. Archived from the original on 2013-06-24.
  29. ^ Anderson, Will. "SolarWinds' board transformed in wake of private equity buyout". Austin Business Journal. Retrieved 27 May 2020. Former board members who are no longer directors include: [...] Ellen Siminoff, president and CEO of California educational website Shmoop University
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