News.blog: Yahoo's Hollywoodification

Yahoo made waves in the tech industry by hiring big guns from Hollywood to run the company and push its broadband and media business. Apparently, the moves are causing waves within the company as well. The hiring of chief executive Terry Semel from Warner Bros. and Media Group head Lloyd Braun from US TV network ABC has sparked a culture battle inside the search giant, the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday.

"But as Yahoo strives to enter the league of Walt Disney, Viacom and other media giants, success hinges on its ability to merge two inherently different cultures: the brash, flashy ethos of entertainment executives and the rumpled, brainiac realm of computer nerds," LA Times staff writer Chris Gaither writes.

For instance, while other executives work in cubicles at Yahoo and have no reserved parking, Braun converted a conference room with a patio into his personal office and reserved a parking space close to the elevators for his car, the article says. His top executives followed his example. Braun's request for a corporate jet was turned down, however.

The article also details a "widely recounted tale" in which Braun took an umbrella without paying for it from the Yahoo merchandise store on a rainy day and allegedly asked the clerk who requested payment "Do you know who I am?"

They do now.