Following up on an earlier report speculating that former Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz has been selected to become Yahoo’s new CEO, the Wall Street Journal is now saying that she has accepted the offer. We have emails out to Yahoo asking for confirmation. The 60-year-old Bartz would bring a steady, seasoned hand to Yahoo’s leadership, but it is not clear in what direction she would take the company.
Bartz is a capable manager. She led Autodesk for 14 years between 1992 and 2006, keeping it from the PC software graveyard by focusing on CAD software for architects and builders. Autodesk, however, is an old-school software company. It is not exactly a great training ground for running an online advertising business attached to the most popular destinations on the Web. And as far as applications go, they are all Web apps and Yahoo gives them away for free.
Bartz is most definitely an ally of founder and outgoing CEO Jerry Yang. They both sit on Cisco’s board. But it gets better. She also sits on Intel’s board with Yahoo president Susan Decker. In other words, she is has close ties with existing management. (Decker, though, wanted the CEO job as well).
So how should shareholders read this pick? She doesn’t seem like the type of CEO who is going to be leading Yahoo for the next 14 years (although anything is possible). More likely she will basically dress up Yahoo for a sale of part or all of its business, and do it in a way that is palatable to both Yang and the board.
Update: A Yahoo spokesperson says, “We can’t comment.”
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yawwwwwwwwn!
I heard one of the 1st changes she’s making is adding more fiber to the Yahoo cafe.
Also, walkers and canes will be located at every building entrance to make getting around easier.
Oh, that kind of fiber.
Dude, that is cold.
Eh, that’s a pretty weak pick for a CEO. Definitely don’t think that she will be able to rally the troops over at Yahoo and turn that company around.
Peter Epstein
http://www.thewebwar.com
You sir, are a mongoloid.
Defining someone a mongoloid not only is an over reaction but it is offensive for millions of families
He does have a point though - his website really sucks ass.
Admitting you have no employees, are underfunded and are basically shit, really isnt the kind of things you put on your homepage.
Give the lady a chance. She has CEO experience so maybe she can turn Yahoo around!
180º?
I meant 360º…
Oops.
I failed at my own witty remark…
*facepalm*
Damned lack-of-edit-to-comments!
actually, i think you mean 180.
I’m more of a 240 man myself.
Well the “experienced CEO’s” could never get it done, so why not bring in an “outsider” with a new perspective?
I don’t think CEOs of companies this big need to be web developers, for god’s sake. She’s running a corporation, not a website. And while we like to pretend that web companies are utterly different than all other kinds of corporations, that’s untrue, especially at a large size. Yahoo! needs tons of web-savvy, technically brilliant, innovative people in their development groups. At the helm they need good managers.
ready. set. armchair.
60 years old. knows NOTHING about the web. repeat: KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT THE WEB. please carol lets discuss your history in guiding large consumer websites….
wow. all hope is lost
Surprised to see the dogs on the attack with comments such as, “She’s old!” and “SHE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT THE WEB.”
Jerry knows all sorts of things about the web. That worked out great.
And what about Eric Schmidt? Up until Google his major experience was with Sun and Novell? I guess at the time one could say he “KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT THE WEB!!!!111″
you could have put ronald mcdonald in charge of google and they would still be printing money…google has a money tree, they only need a leader who will not cut it down. yahoo on the other hand needs much more
Nicely put, Whoopie.
Though Autodesk is running nicely and I’m sure she’ll be pumping the fiber through Yahoo - it needs a good cleanout.
I thought that was interesting too. 60 years old but not on the picture. She needs to update her college photo.
Yay for Glamor Shots!
yay for money shots!
I was just watching cnbc when this broke. Great choice. She knows about the business from the boards she sits on (intel, cisco, netapp), but isn’t to close to the situation to not figure a way out of it. The guys on cnbc were also commenting on the fact that she was pretty cute for an older lady, which I have to agree with.
this strikes me as a patronage appointment from one professional board sitter to another. are you trying to tell me that sitting on the board for cisco gives her insights to running a consumer web company??
she will be flabergasted by the consumer web from day one. i would be shocked if she lasts two years.
The issue here is incest. Jerry, Sue, and Bartz all have known each other for years via various boards.
She’s too friendly with the current management, which by all accounts sucks donkey dick.
http://www.ihatejasmine.com/?i.....131mxuler6
Shit, it can’t get much worse than Jerry Yang can it? //g
She’s 60 years old? Wow, God bless Botox!
To all of you who thinks she’s a lame choice….
She’s now the CEO of one of the biggest companies in the world, Yahoo.
And you are still just a lame ass commenter.
Speak for yourself. You don’t know who we are. Bartz is a “play it safe” choice. She is no web expert but does know tech, engineering and software development. It’s a better choice than Decker who I hear is leaving the company due to this slap in the face — ouch!
okay i will cede that point, anyone but decker.
Probably a turd like most of us here.
It’ll be interesting to see how a product-oriented CEO leads a service-oriented business.
- Aanarav
R.I.P Yahoo
It’s been dead for years…just no one’s bothered to actually bury it…so it just sits there…rotting…
Wow.. That was unexpected
Regards,
Ernie
http://www.sankertown.com/
I bought Yahoo stock hoping to make a nice small killing on some good news of an experienced hot shot to replace the non-relevant prior CEOS. And what did I get, more-of-the-same, non-relevant people and a drop in the share price over the news.
Such a shame, Yahoo! used to be the number one destination online for just about anything. Now, it seems like it will end up as a washed up software business.
Just rename it CP-M and try to market it as an alternative to DOS. (you only get that one, if you’ve been around long enough….)
google recruited Eric Schimdt from Novell which is about as exciting as Autodesk but he has proven to be more than capable. I do not think it is an exciting choice - Semel came into chaos and provided some experienced management but could not adapt once the clean up was done. I imagine she can bring some order to the company but the real question will be if she can provide creative, strategic vision, only time will tell . . . .
The issue here is incest. She’s too friendly with the current management, which by all accounts sucks donkey dick.
but google’s success has almost nothing to do with schmidt. i’m not saying he is good or bad, just that google was primed to go to orbit regardless of who was in the CEO seat
Google’s success has nothing to do with Schmidt? slowly back away from the pot… you toad.. and get back to coding your web 2.0 directory or picture uploading, tagging, links website. hahahaha.
Google’s success has everything to do with Eric, a great leaders knows how to follow, the biggest ingredient in leading.
Dont hate appreciate.
That is a very good point. I hope you will be proven correct. I’m not selling my stock. It keeps dropping on the news…..
A CEO role at this stage is about wisdom, experience and capability. It is not relevant where she came from or what she personally excels at - its relevant that she was a capable leader who lead a large enterprise org through a seismic shift in the market. AutoDesk not only survived the webs onslaught they won the race.
There are hundred of “media experts” at Yahoo. These people are the ones to blame for Yahoo’s pathetic demise perhaps putting a leader in charge will align these mishaps and create some momentum.
Is anyone else amazed at the choice for their new CEO? I am amazed at this. Carol Bartz has as very impressive background with some great Technology companies. Yahoo is a MEDIA company! Very little relevant experience here and while it’s good news to finally have an announcement on new leadership, I’m very disappointed with the selection and shareholders aren’t reacting in a positive way either.
Some may argue that GOOG and MSN are run by tech heads…Eric Schmidt was from Novell and certainly had a technology background. Eric was hired at Google before Google even became a real media company. Google AdWords launched in October 2000 with 350 customers – Eric was brought in shortly after in March 2001 and you can be sure talks started before that. At that point they were still a “Search Engine “ company and not the media company they are today.
Given the times there are so many other people who were more qualified with more *relevant* experience to run a media company and a solid understanding of the digital media landscape. Given Yahoo’s shareholder issues over the past six months I think shareholders were very disappointed in the selection and as I write this YHOO shares are trading down -3.27% at $11.82.
Mike
That photo was taken in her 60 year’s old?
That’s Hot, anybody agree.
You are sick. To even put hot along a 60 year old women shows you are really messed up dude.
Yeah, i’d tap that.
I take that back. I guess if you are as old as 80 a 60 year old would appear hot. I mean that is like 20 years younger. WoW.
How old is Ichan anyways?
I wonder …who are the folks that comment against the decision — what exactly do you do? Have you filled senior management shoes before? If not, then is the only basis as to why it’s a *bad choice* due to her inexperience in the consumer-facing web industry? To say that a CEO can be ineffective due to that reason alone is a joke! It’s certainly a great thing to have but look at how much experience Jerry had — he founded the damn company. He just wasn’t qualified to take Yahoo! to the next-level. If she got by Carl Icahn — rest assured she’s not a dumb blonde.
do you think etrade asks YHOO shareholders if they are “qualified” to sell the stock?? the masses have spoken, whether they are “qualified” is irrelevant
but on that note, what do -you- do that makes you qualified????
LOL, Andy.
I hope you never said a word about President Bush.
Nice logic, dipshit.
Media company? HA HA HA Yahoo is no more a media company than Microsoft.
Yahoo is a technology company at its core. The media people come and go and are by any measure a trendy bunch. In-fact they are a dime a dozen these days.
But give me a Tech Savvy CEO who has the experience of running a world class org. and I’ll put my money on the Tech side. How often do you find a “Media” person that understands technology and the culture of geekdom?
Media is not rocket science. Its actually very simple - software and large business are much, much, much, much more difficult to understand and master and ultimately far more important to the bottom line.
Seems like a good choice to me, she is sharp, seasoned and will approach the company with a fresh eye. I just hope Yahoo is able regain some of the glory it has lost over the last few years.
Too bad they didn’t hire someone younger and with vision. But I guess their all too busy losing money at social network sites
Carol is a good choice for Yahoo. She’ll do a fine job.
Anyone who says that Autodesk is a old, stolid kind of company, has no idea for the marketplace that company plays in.
They’ve had to compete with the likes of Parametric Technologies, EDS and Solidworks in the MCAD space, and prior to the acquisition, Alias/Wavefront, Softimage, and a bazillion small companies in the DCC space.
Give the turmoil in those markets, after all the dust has settled, Autodesk is still the strongest company in MCAD and DCC, and there aren’t many companies that dominate two markets. Carol is responsible for that.
She is ok operationally, but is not a good fit to revive an internet giant like Yahoo. I think Tahoo will be bought with in the next year or two.
For a minute i thought i read Carol Burnett was the new CEO of Yahoo. That would not haven been a great surprise.
SELL SELL SELL SELL SELL!!!!!
I told them they should have hired me!! SUE THE COMPANY, FIRE THE BOARD!! OMG what a screw-up this is of MAJOR proportions.
WOW!! Am I surprised? Oh heck no.
Am I saddened by this..Yes. For investors, I say if I were you, I’d dump this stock faster than a hot cup of coffee from McDonald’s! And NOT in my LAP!
Yahoo made a bad decision and it’s the fault of the lame-duck-board running the company.
Shareholders should launch a major class action and the employees should walk out as the Board has basically signed their death certificates.
Sad, but true.
Michael Murdock, CEO
DocMurdock.com
http://www.docmurdock.com/yahoo.htm
Exactly what Yahoo needed: someone with a ton of media experience. NOT!!!!! Does the Yahoo board understand that their principal revenue business is advertising? Wouldn’t it make sense to hire someone who had run a business that generated advertising? I’m baffled.
I do not know much about Carol Bartz. But my instincts tell me this may be a solid selection based on her background and what she’s done in the past. I’ve changed a bit in opinion here, I don’t think Yahoo! needs a media or technology mogul to run the enterprise. It needs a solid tactician and strategist who can align all of the available products and resources that make up Yahoo! and point them all in a single strategic direction and at the same time make the right bets to cut the elements of the company that no longer make sense.
As I said over at FriendFeed, the negative sentiment on this selection strikes me to be very similar to poor reception Mark Hurd’s selection over at HP received. He wasn’t an HP guy with HP-like background but he sure knew from an operations perspective how to re-align it and point it anew.
Right now, I’m leaning towards liking the CEO selection.
“Solid tactician” “Strategic direction” bla bla bli
Its obvious you read business books or at least magazines. Real world demands less business powerpoints and more stuff people like and consume.
First, I have no problem admitting that I read books, business and otherwise.
Second, I completely agree that the real world demands stuff people like and consume. But I think you would have a pretty tough argument to make if you don’t think Yahoo! has produced and continues to produce things people like and consume. That is how they’ve built themselves into one of the most traffic’d properties on the web.
But as continue to innovate, they must also put a plan in place and have leadership to guide them to align everything they currently have an their disposal: traffic, existing revenues, significantly used properties like mail, flickr and delicious to name a few. And I still contend that their place in the search world isn’t something that should be taken for granted or lightly.
Carol Bartz may be the leader the organization needs to make this happen. (and I didn’t need a presentation on slideshare to make these points
With all these women in executive roles, maybe they should change the company name to Yahooters!
LOL, so true
Just when I didn’t think the comments could get any tackier…
So does that mean Jerry should call her moms? Where I am from that how you address a lady who is almost or is your moms age.
SO should I also take it that Yahoo is now officially and old company and the last tech Giant of the Web1.0 Era remained standing?
How long before reality sits in? Funny stuff none the less. Hillary could not pull it off against a younger candidate. McCain could not do it either. Just how old is that pic? or is it really the power of Botox?
Yahoo trades in Yang in directly for a older and wiser candidate
Of course at this age they are no long soft cookies but tough ones. So will she resist Ichan and hold the ship steady? or is she there to do the smooth transaction of a sale to MS?
Either way Yahoo is a great company or was a great company. So what will the market answer be?
SELL or BUY?
It is a no brainer. With the launch of the Web3.0 super portal or all portals. Yahoo id definitely dead.
I think USD20 billion sounds like good music to an investor’s ears in these tough times and possible the super great depression of 09-10. hmmm.
It may actually be worse than having Sue Decker.
Get an ally of Sue and Jerry Yang to help them finish destroying Yahoo, while they hide behind her “polished” facade.
Haven’t we seen this movie before? Pathetic.
The ones that should be fired by shareholders are those sitting in the board of directors who chose this old tart as Yahoo’s CEO.
This woman has provided no track record of turning around or creating innovative Internet services.
Same old s**t!
How could these people ever thought the market would see this as a positive change?
These kind of decisions make me wonder how on Earth did these members of the board managed to get elected. On what basis? With what merit?
I agree that the Board of Directors should be re-evaluated and a leader with Internet experience should have been the choice. Except, I don’t agree with the disrespective tone towards Bartz - Terry Semel was around the same age. However, Steve Case or Mark Andreesen (My recommendation) would have been interesting choices from a market perspective.
Um is Yahoo! Sports down? Seriously?
Here’s a more accurate picture of her from a NYTimes article in 2006. Sorry to rain on your “hot” parade.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/i.....te.600.jpg
Dude you are so evil. But such is life. It will come to all who live to a ripe old age.
If anyone ever says bad things about why men cheat, they deserve to be socked in the face for it. We are visual creatures. Whew.
Ha - Most men over 35 are fat, bald (or hair coming out of the wrong places), and soft…Maybe that’s why women cheat and fantasize about Brad Pitt.
Hey women are expected to cheat. Toys can only go so far.
Bald and fat are the attributes of the good life. Plus as long as it stands up and you can sit on it, who cares about bald and fat
Let’s wait until we hear if Ms. Bartz has a strategy for Yahoo — something that has been lacking for years. Can’t wait to hear what she says.
At least the facelift will be done in solidarity.
F..Hell
The meaning of Yahoo in Nepalese:
ya - hoo
meaning:
short-it
I think you’ve got a point in questioning the suitability of this appointment, yet I see no valid argumentation to support that question mark. Questioning the appointment would be the current lookout for both Yahoo and Microsoft.
I can understand Yahoo wanting a steady hand at the helm, a firm CEO with enough experience to take on Microsoft, but that would be a shortsighted deal. One way or the other Microsoft and Yahoo need to look beyond eachother and face Google in the coming net-war. With Microsoft bringing in the boardroom weight, Yahoo’s chances would have been better with a visionary innovator, a charismatic passionate CEO, a young dog ready to take on Google where it hurts. If Bartz is strong enough to keep Ballmer at bay, Google will be the third dog walking away with the bone. They’ve already upped the ante in appointing former Yahoo genius Schachter yesterday and look primed and ready to face the MicroHoo challenge.
More on MindBlizzard: Ballmer Bratz Tango
Quite frankly, I am sure that Ms. Bartz is extremely talented (Terry Semel was also the same age, people - get over it!). My concern is that Yahoo has a track record of making poor hiring decisions. Second, it is equally as concerning to believe that just because someone is qualified to run an Software company does not mean that they are qualified to lead an Internet company - two completely different revenue models. Case in point: Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer of Microsoft have not and cannot compete in this realm, or any other outside of their core competency.
I don’t care about all your analysis.
She’s 60 yrs old for christ sake and why does her picture still look twenty something?
See more -ahem- recent pic of her here
http://www.theage.com.au/news/.....53422.html
this news headline shows her picture that represents more like a 60 year old.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/.....53422.html
Her profile is outstanding. She is very much qualified for the position although she may not have a background of media and internet services. Yahoo may be in the right hands..
She does not look 60’s year old at all . Nice for 60 years old. Must be well off. I not sure why she is back in the work force. She must love her work -that is the only reason.
Or not..ummm… good for Yahoo - they need a lot of help right now - Yahoo needs to better their search engines - google keeps blowing them away - but wait - doesn’t google own yahoo?
Now I confused myself.
“Bartz is a capable manager”, WTF, is it because she is a woman? I worked with Bartz for 6 years at Autodesk, she is smart, brilliant (her ability to make good decisions during the good and bad times), a good leader that knows the art of leading is learning how to follow.
Arrington is a capable manager, Bartz has seen it all with companies, she lead Autodesk through some rough patches and managed to keep the company not just afloat but very profitable.
Plus get this, you dont have to live in silicon valley to have the business acumen to run online companies.
Bartz is a manager not a damager.
Umm… when is the bankruptcy sale of equipment from Yahoo data centers? I want an extra server at home.
The server will probably compete for space on your bunk bed… be prepared to sleep on the floor.
My money is with you Erick - the company will be dressed and sold within two or three years. I doubt that this announcement will be striking fear in the halls of Microsoft or Google.
You do want the older market I guess. They have the money but the younger generation really powers the internet and she old.
its all a ploy she isn’t going to turn anything around. she is going to sell yahoo the first chance she gets.