Yahoo appoints new CEO

Silicon Valley veteran Carol Bartz, a well-respected industry figure from software maker Autodeck, Inc., will be YahooÔÇÖs new chief executive officer as revealed by the internet giant on Tuesday. ┬á Bartz, 60, led Autodesk for 14 years before becoming its chairman in 2006, and spent nine years at Sun Microsystems, rising to become the second most senior executive behind then-CEO Scott McNealy.┬á She has been named in Fortune magazine's list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and featured on Barron's list of the World's 30 Most Respected CEOs, and observers say that her track record suggests that she is likely to build on YahooÔÇÖs strengths. ┬á "She is able to see the essence of things because she doesn't spend a lot of time worrying about how people are going to feel," said Nilofer Merchant, a former Autodesk manager, now chief executive of technology consultant Rubicon. "She is driven by doing the best thing for the business." ┬á Her appointment follows a search for a replacement for the internet portalÔÇÖs co-founder Jerry Yang, whose voluntary departure as CEO followed lengthy criticism of his stewardship of the company once YahooÔÇÖs share price collapsed to about $12. He angered investors further by turning down a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft last May ÔÇô worth $33 a share. ┬á Bartz appointment could set the stage for Microsoft to renew its efforts to buy YahooÔÇÖs internet search options as a way of posing a more serious threat to Google, the current market leader. Microsoft was disinclined to deal with Yang after he rebuffed the previous deals, so with a new chief executive at the Yahoo helm, many observers believe that this deal will eventually go through. ┬á "We are very confident (Bartz) is the right leader to get Yahoo back on track and help the company achieve its full potential," said Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock.┬á Yang will continue to work closely with Bartz as a member of the companyÔÇÖs board. "I believe Carol is the ideal person to take Yahoo forward and I will be honored to assist her in any way she finds helpful," Yang said.