Company also announces date of First Quarter 2016 Financial Results
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 20, 2016--
Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP), the company that connects people with great local
businesses, today announced that Charles “Lanny” Baker will join the
company as Chief Financial Officer, effective May 9, 2016. Baker brings
a well-rounded executive background to Yelp, having served both sides of
the financial aisle as an equities research analyst and as an
experienced CFO for both private and public companies, with an expertise
in consumer-oriented digital platforms.
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Lanny Baker, Yelp Chief Financial Officer, effective May 9, 2016. (Photo: Business Wire)
“We are excited to have Lanny join Yelp as our new CFO. His expertise
and sheer passion for our mission made him the perfect fit,” said Jeremy
Stoppelman, Co-Founder and CEO of Yelp. “His track record of success
across the financial, strategic and operational areas of digital
businesses will be an important asset to the company as we continue to
rapidly scale our advertising and transaction businesses.”
As a former CFO for two digital companies, ZipRealty and Monster
Worldwide, Inc., and sell-side analyst covering internet and e-commerce,
direct marketing and publishing industries, Baker has a successful track
record of building and measuring corporate finance strategies rooted in
long-term growth objectives. Additionally, he has led the infrastructure
development processes that helped position those brands to be end-to-end
digital platform providers for their consumers.
“It is a privilege to assume this important role at Yelp. The company
has a huge market opportunity ahead of it, and I'm looking forward to
joining the team at such an exciting time in Yelp's development,” said
Mr. Baker. “As the clear category leader providing insight about local
businesses, Yelp's mission is one that truly inspires me.”
Most recently, Mr. Baker served as Chief Executive Officer and President
of ZipRealty, Inc., an online real estate brokerage and technology
company (September 2010 - March 2016), during which time ZipRealty was
acquired by Realogy Holdings, Inc. (August 2014). Previously, Mr. Baker
served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of
ZipRealty (December 2008 - September 2010), which operates in 22 states
and had annual homes sales in excess of $5 billion. Additionally, he
served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Monster
Worldwide, Inc. (March 2005 - June 2007) where he led the global finance
function. From 1993 to 2005, Mr. Baker held various research positions
at Salomon Brothers (subsequently Salomon Smith Barney, and then
Citigroup) and was a Managing Director in the Equity Research Department.
Mr. Baker currently serves as a director of XO Group, Inc. (November
2005 - present), a life stage consumer Internet and media company, where
he chairs the Audit and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees;
and also recently served as director and Chairman of the Audit Committee
(2011 - December 2015) of HomeAway, Inc., an online vacation rental
company, which was acquired by Expedia, Inc.
Mr. Baker holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale College and is a chartered
financial analyst.
Date of First Quarter 2016 Financial Results
The company also announced that it will issue its financial results for
the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 after the market close on
Thursday, May 5, 2016. Yelp will host a conference call to discuss the
results at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time) on the same
day.
To access the call, please dial 1 (866) 776-8879, or outside the U.S. 1
(440) 996-5670, with Passcode 90874309, at least five minutes prior to
the 1:30 p.m. PT start time. A live webcast of the call will also be
available at http://www.yelp-ir.com
under the Events & Presentations menu. An audio replay will be available
between 4:30 p.m. PTMay 5, 2016 and 11:59 p.m. PTMay 12, 2016 by
calling 1 (855) 859-2056 or 1 (404) 537-3406, with Passcode 90874309.
The replay will also be available on the Company's website at http://www.yelp-ir.com.
About Yelp
Yelp Inc. (http://www.yelp.com)
connects people with great local businesses. Yelp was founded in San
Francisco in July 2004. Since then, Yelp communities have taken hold in
major metros across more than 30 countries. Approximately 20 million
unique devices1 accessed Yelp via the Yelp app, approximately
75 million unique visitors visited Yelp via desktop computer2
and approximately 66 million unique visitors visited Yelp via mobile
website3 on a monthly average basis during the fourth quarter
of 2015. As of March 15, 2016, Yelpers had written 100 million rich,
local reviews, making Yelp the leading local guide for real
word-of-mouth on everything from boutiques and mechanics to restaurants
and dentists.
1 Calculated as the number of unique devices accessing the
app on a monthly average basis over a given three-month period,
according to internal Yelp logs.
2 Calculated as the number of “users,” as measured by Google
Analytics, accessing Yelp via desktop computer on an average monthly
basis over a given three-month period.
3 Calculated as the number of “users,” as measured by Google
Analytics, accessing Yelp via mobile website on a monthly average basis
over a given three-month period.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to,
among other things, the future performance of Yelp and its consolidated
subsidiaries, that are based on Yelp’s current expectations, forecasts
and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. These statements
include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the CFO transition
and timing thereof, Yelp’s ability to capture a meaningful share of the
large local market, Yelp’s ability to rapidly scale its advertising and
transactions businesses, Yelp’s market opportunity and Yelp’s ability to
deliver value to local businesses. Yelp’s actual results could differ
materially from those predicted or implied and reported results should
not be considered an indication of future performance. Factors that
could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not
limited to: Yelp’s limited operating history in an evolving industry;
Yelp’s ability to generate sufficient revenue to regain profitability,
particularly in light of its significant ongoing sales and marketing
expenses; Yelp’s ability to successfully manage acquisitions of new
businesses, solutions or technologies, such as Eat24, and to integrate
those businesses, solutions or technologies; Yelp’s reliance on traffic
to its website from search engines like Google and Bing; Yelp’s ability
to generate and maintain sufficient high quality content from its users;
maintaining a strong brand and managing negative publicity that may
arise; maintaining and expanding Yelp’s base of advertisers; changes in
political, business and economic conditions, including any European or
general economic downturn or crisis and any conditions that affect
e-commerce growth; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;
Yelp’s ability to deal with the increasingly competitive local search
environment; Yelp’s need and ability to manage other regulatory, tax and
litigation risks as its services are offered in more jurisdictions and
applicable laws become more restrictive; the competitive and regulatory
environment while Yelp continues to expand geographically and introduce
new products and as new laws and regulations related to Internet
companies come into effect; Yelp’s ability to timely upgrade and develop
its systems, infrastructure and customer service capabilities. The
forward-looking statements in this release do not include the potential
impact of any acquisitions or divestitures that may be announced and/or
completed after the date hereof.
More information about factors that could affect Yelp’s operating
results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations” in Yelp’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K or
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q at http://www.yelp-ir.com
or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in
this release, which are based on information available to Yelp on the
date hereof. Yelp assumes no obligation to update such statements.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160420005410/en/
Source: Yelp Inc.
Yelp Inc.
Media Relations Contact:
Shannon Eis,
415-635-2478
press@yelp.com
Investor
Relations Contact:
Allie Dalglish, 415-635-2412
ir@yelp.com