Yahoo’s long search for its new CEO has come to an end. The former CEO of Yahoo, Jerry Yang resigned in November 2008 after the unsuccessful deals with Microsoft and the loss suffered by the company. Carol Bartz has been appointed as the new CEO and she take charge immediately. Carol Bartz was with Autodesk serving the position of CEO. Autodesk is known for its top-notch software that is used for engineering and architectural designing. She contributed a great deal for the expansion of the company and she managed to increase the revenue of the company from $350 million to $1.5 billion during her tenure. She was with Autodesk from 1990 to 2006. She continued to be the executive chairperson of San Rafael. She is also a board member at Intel and Cisco.
Jerry Yang is being replaced by Carol Bartz served the position as CEO since 2007. He is also the co-founder of Yahoo Inc. There is fresh hope that the arrival of Carol Bartz might revive the discussions Microsoft that died out in 2008. Yahoo definitely counts on her special skills in getting the group together. As per the Alan Weiner, “She is known as a tough and fair leader. She is known for bringing people together and building consensus.” In retrospect, all of us know this is what exactly Yahoo needs now and it is in need of fresh thinking in the company.
Carol Bartz who is 60 is a student of University of Wisconsin. She got her degree in computer science in 1971. She is expected to take over immediately and she will also become an automatic member of the board of directors and will assume office for the same immediately.
According to one of the statements of Yahoo, “We are very excited to have Carol Bartz leading Yahoo into its next era of growth. She is the exact combination of seasoned technology executive and savvy leader that the board was looking for and we are thrilled to have attracted such a world-class talent to Yahoo.”
Though Carol Bartz has a longstanding technology background, she seems to have very little of direct internet experience. Probably, she has a lot of learning to do and for a person of her caliber, it should not be an impossible task. She has to study her competitors along with gaining insights into the internet advertising industry.
Carol Bartz is originally from Winona, which is situated in the southeastern Minnesota. She was raised by her grandmother in a dairy farm in Wisconsin. She worked her way to her current position and as we can guess it would not have been a royal road. Marye Anne Fox who is the chancellor of UC San Diego who worked with Bartz as part of the Council of Advisors on Science and Technology for the President George W. Bush, says, “She is a person who is focused and incredibly intelligent. She is highly motivated to get where she wants to go and does so.”
Yahoo has a lot to hope for in this New Year with its new CEO.