Yang Yuanqing, chairman and chief executive officer of Lenovo, is bolstering the board of directors at the world’s No. 2 PC maker in what he says is an effort to help plan the firm’s future.

Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo, is joining Lenovo’s board of directors as an observer, Lenovo announced Wednesday

Lenovo said it is looking to boost its “long term strategy” planning with the help of Yang and Tudor Brown, a founder of ARM Holdings, a microprocessor firm. Brown was named to the board as an independent non-executive director.

“In Jerry Yang and Tudor Brown, Lenovo is bringing a wealth of experience and tremendous vision for the future to our company, and we believe that they will add a great deal to our strategic thinking, long-term direction and, ultimately, our ability to achieve our aspirations in the PC plus era,” Yang said.

The additions come as Lenovo continues to branch out from PCs with smartphones, tablets, and other Internet-connected devices as the company embraces Yang’s post-PC era thinking. Lenovo operates its executive headquarters in Morrisville. 

Yang, 44, will attend board meetings to share his “experience and perspective as an Internet and technology pioneer,” Lenov said in a statement. He will not have the power to vote at any board meeting and may not exercise any other rights of a director.

“Jerry’s perspective, experience and proven entrepreneurial spirit will help us continue to drive growth and expand our business,” Yang explained.

After co-founding Yahoo with David Filo in 1995 as doctoral students at Stanford University, Yang helped build it into the world’s most popular website. Yahoo lost its luster in recent years as it ceded share to Google Inc. Yang served as Yahoo’s chief executive officer from June 2007 to January 2009, and also served as a director on its board until Jan. 17, 2012.

Lenovo will pay Jerry Yang a cash fee of $61,875 and offer rights to equity in the company with a value of $135,000 annually, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

“I am honored to join Lenovo as a board observer at an exciting time in its growth,” Jerry Yang said. “I look forward to leveraging my past experience as a technology entrepreneur and innovator to provide advice as Lenovo looks at new areas of growth. I believe that Lenovo’s strong leadership team, coupled with their innovative strategy positions them well for continued success as a global leader in technology.”

Brown, who holds an MA degree in Electrical Sciences from Cambridge University and is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, accepted the Lenovo post in January. Brown served in multiple roles at ARM, including president, chief technical officer, and chief operating officer.

[LENOVO ARCHIVE: Check out eight years of Lenovo stories as reported in WRAL Tech Wire.]