Sohu.com today announced that Derek Palaschuk, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice-President Finance, has decided he wants to leave SOHU next year and has so informed the Company.

Derek Palaschuk has agreed to stay with the Company until a suitable replacement has been found and to spend some time overlapping with his successor.

Sohu.com, one of China's three main portals, has had a relatively smooth management tradition, compared to the ups and downs in the boardrooms of rivals Netease.com and Sina.com. Palaschuk's departure marks one of the first major post-IPO executive departures for Sohu.com, and comes at a time when the company's stock is riding high, on what many insiders believe is extremely high overvaluation.

"We thank Derek for his tremendous contributions to Sohu in the past three and one half years and understand his wish to move to Shanghai and be united with his family. He's been with us since before the initial public offering, through three acquisitions, a convertible bond issue and the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We wish Derek success in his continuing career," said Charles Zhang, Chairman and CEO of Sohu.com.