Yahoo! has said that Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang will step down from his current position as soon as the Internet giant finds a replacement for him. Previously held by Terry Semel, Jerry Yang only took up the position of CEO last year but has since been the target of a great amount of criticism for his decisions.

One of the most talked about of Yang’s decisions was the rejection of an acquisition bid from Microsoft in May. Despite Microsoft increasing its bid to $33 per share, or about $5 billion more than its previous offer, Yahoo! insisted on a price of $37 per share, at which point Microsoft dropped the offer altogether.

Mr. Yang was also involved in penning an advertising deal that would see Google ads displayed along with Yahoo! search results. This partnership would have made Yahoo! approximately $250-450 million in the first year. The deal fell through when Google began to feel the pressure of the European Union anti-trust regulators and the U.S. Department of Justice, although Google also blamed Microsoft for the anti-trust problems.

In a statement, Yahoo! said that Yang would be returning to his former position as "Chief Yahoo!" and will continue to serve on the company’s board.

"Jerry and the Board have had an ongoing dialogue about succession timing, and we all agree that now is the right time to make the transition to a new CEO who can take the company to the next level. We are deeply grateful to Jerry for his many contributions as CEO over the past 18 months, and we are pleased that he plans to stay actively involved at Yahoo! as a key executive and member of the Board."

With a new CEO and corporate vision, it is possible that Microsoft may again pursue the Internet company with another takeover bid, but the software giant declined to comment on the suggestion.