Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) may be close to losing a top exec, Jeff Weiner, who is executive vice president of the internet company's network division. Though his departure may not be a fait accompli, the possibility that Yahoo! is losing key operational staff carries some serious repercussions. With the company's future mired in uncertainty, it's no surprise that something of a brain drain underway at Yahoo!, and in fact a number of high-profile folks have left the company over the past six months.

Theres' little question that Yahoo!'s middle management ranks are bloated and could stand to be thinned out. But losing some of its senior people raises questions about the company's ability to execute a a turnaround after rebuffing acquisition offers from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). If the departures were to accelerate, it also could undermine Microsoft's interest in Yahoo!, or at least cause it to reconsider possible deal terms

In the near-term, an exodus of Yahoo! execs would raise doubts about the efficacy of the company's controversial severance plan, which it adopted following Microsoft's $44.6 billion acquisition offer in February and which is intended to stem a possible tide of defections. The plan has been attacked by Carl Icahn during his proxy contest to take control of Yahoo!'s board of directors, while a shareholder group has taken Yahoo! to court over the severance package and for failing to cut a deal with Microsoft.

Continue reading at TechConfidential.com.

With Yahoo! Inc.'s (NASDAQ: YHOO) recent management shakeup, will any other big changes be coming soon? The bad taste left in the mouth of many investors over the lavish pay package given to former CEO Terry Semel while Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) was beating up his company and taking all its lunch money is not going away soon. Even more unsettling is the fact that company co-founder Jerry Yang stepped in as CEO over savvy and well-respected Sue Decker (who did ascend to the role of President). All those changes were needed, although it's way too early to see if the new team will be able to rescue Yahoo! from the deep shadow of Google.

Yahoo! EVP Jeff Weiner has been cited in unofficial circles as one of the main people responsible for the slow rollout of Yahoo!'s potential savior, Project Panama. Created specifically to take on Google's auction-style keyword ad placement, Project Panama was launched in semi-glorious fashion late last year but exact details on its performance have been a bit hard to find so far. How is it performing beyond of the platitudes from management we continue to hear? How is the platform contributing to Yahoo!'s bottom line more than the previous Overture keyword system? Inquiring minds need to know.

Project Panama needs to show powerful results in the new quarter or a few more Yahoo! folks could be shown the door. Although Yahoo! is not making ground against Google's search-based advertising leadership, the least Project Panama could do is take the search viewership Yahoo! does have and maximize revenue in a measurable way that shareholders can plainly see. If not, Semel will need to be the first of several pushed out.