Utah Tech Council believes in Jerry Yang

The Utah Technology Council certainly has more faith in Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang than billionaire financier Carl Icahn, who is trying to oust him with help from Microsoft.

The council announced today that Yang would be the keynote speaker for its 10th annual Hall of Fame black-tie gala, to be held in October in Salt Lake City.

"The Hall of Fame is widely regarded as the premier event for technology companies and leaders," Richard R. Nelson, president and chief executive of the Utah council and chairman and chief executive of the national Technology Councils of North America, said in a statement. "The Hall of Fame is a unique platform for honoring and recognizing individuals whose technology innovations have shaped our culture. Jerry Yang's Yahoo career exemplifies the HOF ideals, and we are honored to be able to hear from him."

There is no arguing that Yang has literally transformed business and culture as co-founder of Yahoo. But we suspect Icahn would nominate him to a Hall of Infamy for how Yahoo has, in Icahn's words, "botched up" the deal to sell Yahoo to Microsoft. But even if Icahn succeeds in ousting Yang as CEO at the Yahoo annual meeting on Aug. 1, it won't be a showstopper for Yang, one of Yahoo's largest shareholders, or for the Utah Technology Council.

-- Jessica Guynn

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