Yahoo! Talent Keeps Trickling

Yahoo! seems to agree, citing the retention of executive talent as one of its key business focuses. "If we are unable to retain our existing senior management and key personnel and hire new highly skilled personnel, we may not be able to execute our business plan," Yahoo! said in its recent 10-K filing. The company's top brass "have acquired specialized knowledge and skills with respect to Yahoo! and its operations. The loss of any of these individuals could harm our business."

With Katz' departure, existing general managers in Yahoo!'s Sports and Studios divisions will continue to push those efforts forward, said Yahoo! spokesperson Charlene Fitzgibbon.

Marquez, meanwhile, "was a key member of the Yahoo corporate development team, and guys like that don't generally walk away unless they smell blood," according to TechCrunch.

Both Katz and Marquez will be leaving at a point where their skills may have been especially valuable to Yahoo! Katz, who joined the company in the summer of 2005 after eight years at CBS, was a key player in Yahoo!'s aggressive move into video, among other forms of media.

While its rich media background is expected to give it a leg up in the arena over the more technologically oriented Google(GOOG Quote), Yahoo! is not without its share of glitches. Media reports surfaced that Yahoo!'s high-profile partnership with CurrentTV was in peril last week, even as Google charged further into the market with its $1.65 billion acquisition of video-sharing site YouTube in October.