After being silent all day about the selection of Carol Bartz as its new CEO, Yahoo finally got around to confirming the reports. It also announced that president Sue Decker, who was also vying for the top spot, will resign.
So at least there will be some management transition, with Jerry Yang going back to his founder’s role. For Decker, getting the CEO job was a long shot. She was already basically running Yahoo, and that obviously wasn’t working.
Now we will see whether Bartz can articulate a different strategy for the company, or at least negotiate a better deal with Microsoft (or AOL).
Update: During the conference call, chairman Roy Bostock said that Bartz “is the only person to whom we offered this job.” When the call was handed over to Bartz, she asked some of the right questions, but refused to answer any of them just yet:
Should we do a search deal? Should we divest of certain assets? Where is the business going? I have many ideas on these subjects, but it would be presumptuous of me to discuss them on my first day on the job. So I am not going to.
Gee, that’s a real confidence booster.
And Bartz really doesn’t like it when other people talk about Yahoo’s strategic options. She basically told press, pundits, and everyone else to back off:
It’s been too crazy. People outside Yahoo deciding what Yahoo should do, shouldn’t do. That’s got to stop.
I hope that wasn’t directed at us.
Not exactly a stellar handling of the PR that they’ve received today.
So much brainpower has left Yahoo lately…..
So Eric… Can you let the Tech-sheep know if they like or dislike Yahoo with this change in management. They are getting antsy…
I heard Bartz once slammed a 6 pack of Ensure in 12 minutes flat.
For the love of Christ, can Techcrunch’s homepage be any more cluttered?
I couldn’t agree more.
I certainly hope Mrs. Bartz has the right answers for Yahoo. Terry Semel’s hiring was a big, long mistake. Jerry Yang didn’t help during his time as CEO either.
Yahoo needs new revenue streams. Display advertising isn’t a great way to make money. And the Search seems to losing market share every quarter.
Not according to AdCrunch aka TechCrunch
For God’s sake, can you plz leave Microsoft and AOL out of this? Get a grip, it ain’t ahppening and let Yahoo! be Yahoo!; don’t ask Bush to be Obama…
It’s a very simple plan really: HIRE NEW AND FRESH DEVELOPERS! http://myphilly...om/archives/489
imagine the cat fights these two women would have had. At least Sue Decker can finally spend some quality time with her children. I had read she was going through an ugly divorce and there were young children involved. May be someone can confirm this.
What does Bartz’ comp package look like? Bartz will have the easiest job in 2009. Sell off Search to MSFT and walk away with millions.
Easy pickins’
I heard she was spending some quality time with the CFO
That is so sexist. “Cat fights” and “finally spending some quality time with her children” — people would never say this about men.
Right, because men don’t have “cat-fights” or always whine about not having enough “quality time with their children”.
Black people are really good at basketball. Italians know how to cook. I guess thats racist?
Oversensitive idiot.
Never been to the Castro District??????
DonkeyLips– that’s exactly my point– men DO have ‘cat-fights’ but they are never described as cat-fights (I dare you to find anywhere, a description of 2 men ‘cat-fighting’). And you’d never read a story about a male CEO stepping down, with people saying that now he should go spend more time w/ his children. Let’s face it– it’s true.
Not sure why you brought up basketball and cooking..maybe those are your own stereotypes. You’re the idiot.
AWESOME! SO AWESOME! Glad to see Sue go and -hopefully- a new direction to hit Yahoo! //g
Founders don’t belong in the company. They belong off on the sidelines at this stage of the game. Her first move should be to fire Yang and Filo and send them on their way. If she wants to bring me in as President, I’d consider it.
Mike
that’s not always true Mike… It’s a web 1.0 fallacy.
not really. if you look at where the company is now, based on the decision of a founder and the board backing him, he should step away. She really needs a clean slate to work with.
Mike
“If anything changes, I am around to discuss. My advice to Yahoo Management is NOT free. You’ve been here before, you know my price for helping out now.” – from your site.
dude, you’re a fuckin joke. stfu.
go back to you running your lame 2 bit SEO gig and doing tech support for your former employers if it that doesn’t work out for you.
Yeah, like Larry Ellison, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are all pointless founders….
Silly man.
Decker, Decker company wrecker!
Good riddens!
At least we know Bartz can do a credible Robert Evans impression. “Am I happy to be here? Absolutely. Will I bring Yahoo up to the present? I’m gonna try. Is Jerry Yang a nice guy? You betcha.”
Eric,
Do you expect her to lay out her entire vision for the company on an introduction conference call?
I’d be happy with a bone to nibble on.
that’s what she said!
not here to defend yahoo as the Jerry, sue, terry, and many others created this mess.
but carol is right to tell the pundits and media to fuck off for awhile while she cleans up the mess.
Well, it’s tough to see how things could get WORSE for Yahoo!.
I mean, she can’t be any worse than Jerry. Right?
Right?
you’re kidding right? of course she can and probably will since she’s letting him ‘return to his old chief yahoo post’. FIRE HIS BUTT!!! TODAY!!! Give the 6:00 news something to run in San Francisco!!
They could have hired Alberto Gonzales.
She’s right. Note that everyone has an agenda – analysts, reporters, institutional investors, Yahoo, Microsoft and Google. They are all planting self-serving stories about what is best for Yahoo. Back off. Let them make their own decision. Personally, I believe handing search over to MS is a terrible idea. Go do a search on Microsoft’s search portal. Oh wait, where do you go? Once you do find it, do a search. Their results are horrible. Yahoo without search is a two legged stool. Search vastly improves Yahoo’s ability to deliver more relevant and higher paying display ads. Think some commentator on CNBC even understands that?
Agree completely. What’s worse is Techcrunch doesn’t get it; and it’s a tech portal, so what do you expect of media?
Sue Decker could be the right person -who knows. What I do know that if you are not the CEO or a founder of a company you might have a title as President but that doesn’t mean the company is following your direction.
to the back off remark…better go read that 1st Amendment again. Can’t handle the pressure, don’t even step into the kitchen.
And as far as Roy goes…he’s NOT part of the solution. He’s part of the problem. Ask him to leave as well as all of the other board members and elect a new board.
MM
Bartz is a fine choice.
CEO’s need to place bets year or more in advance. Steve Jobs bet apple on the ipod. Walmart bet on China. Yang did not have the balls to bet on anything, so he kept Decker on to tweak things here and there.
Would be interesting to see where Bartz places her bet.
I thought she looked really cute at 60. But this is her picture in 2000 – http://images.g...ficial%26sa%3DN
Michal Murdock,
You are joking right? A self proclaimed “SEO” consultant??!!!1 HA HA what a friggin joke you and your letter are.
You do realize that anyone who calls themselves a SEO expert is laughed at by anyone in the “biz”. You know the people who actually do this for a living? “Internet Consultant” WTF is that? Do you work for the Geek Squad?
Your resume is laughable and your self promotion makes you about as plausible a hire as a Sasquatch in Phoenix. Please give up the blog reply business and focus on selling “how to make a fortune on eBay” to the ignorant and the old.
Add
I would, but it appears some anonymous putz beat me to it.
Get a life and learn how to post out in the open. The anonymous crap is for people who are afraid to be known and who have no balls.
Love,
Mike
‘BIGSEO – Our Premiere Website Optimization/Education Package – $2009/yr.’
– Goes up by one dollar per year?
Yahoo is a great site. It should not fail.
It will be intersting to see what Carol will do. She is coming form a CAD company, which is very far away from a web company. CAD is more conervative and traditional market. Will she have the guts to run such a different business?
Carol is a great catch, no doubt. And, Yahoo is still my favorite portal.
My only concern is a chase for golden exec (M&A)parachute, and not a long term play.
Wow.
“It’s been too crazy. People outside Yahoo deciding what Yahoo should do, shouldn’t do. That’s got to stop.”
Good luck with that.
Sue is gone. Listen: Sue Decker. The worst executive in silicon valley is gone. I think Carol’s done what she was hired to do.
“Gee, that’s a real confidence booster.”
Actually it is. She’s questioning Yahoo’s strategy – as opposed to repeating the same PR BS over and over. Even if she had already a plan up her sleeve, why would she raise expectations and make it public ???
wow. ugly mug.
Time to buy YHOO stock.
ofcourse, it points to you in some sense, u also keep posting what yahoo should do and shouldn’t do.
mike murdock is right about getting yang and filo out. it confuses the rank and file as to who is in charge. i’ve seen it…one person has the management rank (the CEO), another has the love of the legions (the founder). when these two don’t see eye to eye, there’s no obvious resolution.
anything yang and filo could do for yahoo they have already done. bartz needs a new team. its a public company. they need to sail off into the sunset
C.I.L.F.
As a 3D artist I’ve watched in awe as Autodesk took over the game design and film software. If she’s able to bring that dominance and decision making to
Yahoo, she could really turn it around.
(This is a simul-comment my comment in a related thread/blog topic. Apologies if you’ve already read it.)
I disagree with Erick’s comments. If Yahoo! had wanted to dress itself up for a sale to Microsoft, it could’ve done so with any middling management performer. Sue Decker could’ve handled the sale and spare Jerry Yang (some of) the embarrassment by accepting a price lower than what he’d previously declined. However, since Ms. Decker was part of the management trio that helped lead Yahoo! into this mess, she wouldn’t be picked if Yahoo! wanted a turnaround.
Ms. Bartz’ background may be old school software in Autodesk, but you’re missing the bigger picture. She’s a strategic pick for long-term objectives, like a turnaround. If the opportunity presents itself, obviously she’d consider all sale possibilities but that wouldn’t be her primary focus.
I think she’ll ultimately sell off prize assets when the market recovers and use that cash to revamp the brand and make small, targeted acquisitions. As well, given her experience in paid software, she may focus on Yahoo!’s non-advertising businesses – its stars. These include: growing Zimbra’s paid support and outsourced hosting business, growing Yahoo! Web Hosting and possibly finally getting Yahoo! ICANN-accredited to sell its own domain names, and even growing non-ad revenue generating aspects of Flickr. When the ad market tanked in 2001-2002, Terry Semel was seen as Yahoo!’s saviour by growing those businesses like paid Yahoo! Mail subscriptions and bringing Yahoo!’s reliance on ad revenue down to around 60% compared to Google’s 95%. If Bartz does the same, it’ll be Yahoo!’s saving grace – again.
It’s a good pick and hopefully this will bring some stability to Yahoo!.
My two cents (or thereabouts),
Doug Mehus
Its nice that Yahoo finally got a CEO. But stories have already started circulating that Carol Bartz is incompetent to take Yahoo to the next level. I was reading an article which hints that Bartz might not be able to safeguard Yahoo investors interest. Here’s the link to the article I am referencing: http://uk.reute...E50D0MA20090114
“I hope that wasn’t directed at us.”
You know it was!
MIke Arrington could run Yahoo on the side better than this women…no offense Carol, but its true.
So much talent has left Yahoo…
Illegal immigrants are returning back to their country…
Is there a connection??
Don’t miss the investigative report that will uncover all this. Smart, incisive, to the point research that will leave the Y! community flabbergasted.
No wonder the NYT calls it a “Masterpiece”….the LA Times calls it “Revealing”….Bloomberg calls it “The end of the Political Correctness in the Tech Sector”….
…and Carol Bartz calls it” just a bunch of crap! Don’t talk about it or I’ll get you fired!”
Geez, no wonder AutoDesk dominates the market like it does.
I’m bored, maybe I should have taken that offer from yahoo.
She’s one tough lady but they waited a bit too long.
What she needs to do in 5 steps is
1) confront everyone with the brutal facts of reality
2) find out what they can be the best in the world
at (and what not)
3) find out what brings in the money
4) find out what your employees are passionate about and
5) introduce the right culture for the company.
Sounds easy but it’s not.
Ms. Bartz is exactly what Yahoo! needs. Someone who knows how to Disrupt the status quo in order to improve competitiveness – especially against larger, better financed and higher market share competitors. Yahoo! employees and investors are lucky to have a CEO able to affect change, and not just someone with “ad industry credentials.” This appointment certainly better positions Yahoo! than the newspaper CEOs who are cutting costs while watching their businesses disappear as advertisers go to the web. Read more at http://www.TheP...ixPrinciple.com
Did anyone here notice how Autodesk is a software company driven like an old hardware “a la IBM, GM, GE” company? Batz’s Autodesk has built a de facto monopoly by failing to open new markets and being forced to polish it’s user base to the limit. It stalled a while ago and will not grow again. I can’t wait to see what this kind of “banker-friendly” old school CEO can do for Yahoo.