Flickr Founders Flee Yahoo

Flickr founders Caterina
Fake and Stewart Butterfield are leaving Yahoo.

Butterfield -- who submitted an odd Onion-esque resignation letter -- will leave the company in July. Fake's last day was on Friday, according to a Yahoo spokesperson.

"Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake have made tremendous contributions to Yahoo! over the years. Caterina Fake's last day with the company was June 13th; Stewart Butterfield's last day will be July 12th. We greatly appreciate all their work and dedication and wish them well in their new endeavors," said a Yahoo spokesperson.

Their resignations come on the heels of a slew of high-profile Yahoo departures in recent months, including Jeff Weiner, Steve Souders, Jeremy Zawodny and Eric Boyd. There's been an equally significant exodus since CEO Jerry Yang took over last year.

While pundits argued Yahoos would leave in droves if Microsoft took over the company, the brain drain certainly hasn't slowed down since Microsoft walked away from its $42 billion offer in May.

Flickr, a photo-sharing site launched in 2004, was acquired by Yahoo for a rumored $35 million in 2005. The founders fervently denied at the time that the deal meant Flickrers would become a "bunch of suits."

"We’re going to grow and change, but we’re in it for the long haul, with the same management and same team.

You’re not going to become a bunch of suits?

No, no, no! The precious DNA we’ve got — that of the Ludicrew — is on side and revving up for building Flickr . . . and keeping us around — in spite of our wiseassery, tomfoolery and tendency to hoot spontaneously — is crucial for preserving the Flickrness that is Flickr . . .," Caterina Fake wrote on the Flickr blog.

Photo: Flickr/Caterina