(Telecompaper) Yahoo! announced the departure of its chief operating officer Henrique de Castro, effective 16 January. In a short SEC filing, the company said De Castro will receive an undisclosed amount of severance benefits and equity awards. A former Google executive, De Castro was one of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's first hires after joining Yahoo in 2012. De Castro was appointed at Yahoo in October 2012 and was responsible for strategic and operational management of Yahoo!'s sales, operations, media and business development worldwide. The company did not announce his successor.