Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, who proved an utter failure as the struggling company's CEO and blew its mammoth sale to Microsoft, is going to be an "observer" on the Lenovo board with no voting rights or directorial responsibilities.

He'll get nearly $200,000 a year in cash and stock for his advice.

The Chinese PC company is in a mood to diversify into smartphones, tablets and smart TVs and is putting $800 million into a new facility to develop and make mobile widgets.

The Taiwan-born Yang resigned from the Yahoo, Yahoo Japan and Alibaba boards last year, cutting his last connection with the firm.

"Jerry's appointment as an observer to our board furthers Lenovo's reputation as a transparent international company," Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said in a statement. "As Lenovo continues to build on its momentum and establish itself as a global technology leader, Jerry's perspective, experience and proven entrepreneurial spirit will help us continue to drive growth and expand our business."

In January, Lenovo named former ARM president Tudor Brown an independent non-executive director. Nobuyuki Idei, the former chairman and group CEO of Sony, also joined as an independent non-executive director in September of 2011.