The founder of Yahoo, Jerry Yang, will be stepping down today once the Yahoo board of directors find a suitable replacement for the venerable Yang.

Yang confirmed the move saying:

We believe the time is now right to transition to a new ceo who can take the company to the next level.

Sources close to the board expect the choice will end up being an outsider and likely not current Yahoo President Sue Decker, although she is being considered for the job.

It is still not known if Yang’s move was voluntary or imposed by the board.

Jerry Yang took over as CEO of Yahoo 16 months ago.