Yahoo's management ranks are rapidly thinning as the internet pioneer fends off a shareholder mutiny threatening to culminate in the firing of CEO Jerry Yang.

Three more executives have decided to jump ship, according to reports published by two blogs, AllThingsD and Techcrunch, and The New York Times.

The reports were based on unnamed people with knowledge of the departures.

The latest defectors reportedly are: Qi Lu, an executive vice president in charge of Yahoo's search and advertising technology; Brad Garlinghouse, a senior vice president who oversees communications tools like mail; and Vish Makhijani, a senior vice president involved in search.

Garlinghouse is the best known of the trio.

In 2006, he wrote a scathing memo arguing that Yahoo had gone awry and needed a major housecleaning. The so-called "manifesto" caused a stir when it was leaked to The Wall Street Journal.

The management turmoil appears related to a major reorganization that Yahoo president Susan Decker wants to complete as early as next week, according to a Wall Street Journal story that cited unnamed people familiar with the matter.

Hilary Schneider, a Yahoo executive vice president who is one of Decker's most trusted subordinates, could wind up with expanded responsibility in a streamlining aimed at improving communication between the company's product groups and overseas sales division, the Journal reported.

Yahoo declined to confirm the departures but issued a statement expressing its confidence in "a deep and talented management team."

The exodus could worsen Yahoo's instability as Yang and his remaining lieutenants scramble to regain their bearings after spending five months grappling with an unwelcome takeover bid from Microsoft.

Source:AP News