The name Yahoo! is an acronym for "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle," but Yahoo’s founders David Filo and Jerry Yang say they chose the name because they liked the dictionary definition of a yahoo: "rude, unsophisticated, uncouth."
The beginning
The founders of Yahoo!, David Filo and Jerry Yang, Ph.D. candidates in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, California, started their system in February 1994 as a way to keep track of their personal interests on the Internet. Soon this was taking up more of their time than their doctoral studies. Eventually, their records became so unmanageable that they had to break them down into categories and then subcategories. The basic concept began as a web site called "Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web" but this was later renamed Yahoo.
The breakthrough
Word spread quickly and soon hundreds of people were accessing web sites, using David and Jerry’s system, from far beyond Stanford University. By autumn 1994, Yahoo had achieved its first million-hit day. It was soon clear to David and Jerry that they held the key to a potentially successful business. In March 1995 they set up their business and went in search of investors. In April 1995, Sequoia Capital, a well-regarded investment company, agreed to fund Yahoo with an initial investment of almost $2 million.
The stock market launch
Yahoo grew very rapidly. David and Jerry hired a management team and in autumn 1995 secured further funding from investors Reuters Ltd. and Softbank. Yahoo! made its highly successful stock exchange debut in April 1996 and already had 49 employees.
Today
Yahoo is now a leading global Internet communications, commerce and media company, offering a comprehensive branded network of services to over 230 million people each month. It employs well over 3,000 staff. The company also provides online business and enterprise services designed to enhance the productivity and web presence of Yahoo!'s clients. These services include Corporate Yahoo!, a popular customized enterprise portal solution; audio and video streaming; store hosting and management and web site tools and services.
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