San Francisco / London, Jan 19 (IANS) Yahoo's co-founder Jerry Yang stepped down from its board along with all other positions he held in the company, it was announced Tuesday.

The 43-year-old Yang also resigned from the Boards of Yahoo! Japan and Alibaba Group Holding limited, Xinhua quoted the company as stating in a press release.

Having founded the online company in 1995 with David Filo, Yang served as Yahoo's chief executive from June 2007 until January 2009.

Yang's resignation comes two weeks after the company hired former PayPal executive Scott Thomson to be its new chief executive, BBC reported.

Yang had annoyed some shareholders by turning down a $47.5bn takeover offer from Microsoft in 2008. The company's current market value is about $20bn.

"The time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo!", said Yang in a statement while expressing his support for the company's current management.

"I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future," he said.