CEO Carol Bartz Photo: Reuters Robert Gallbraith(Reuters) - Yahoo Inc Chairman Roy Bostock fired CEO Carol Bartz over the phone on Tuesday, ending a tumultuous tenure marked by stagnation and a rift with Chinese partner Alibaba.
Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse will step in as interim CEO, and the company will search for a permanent leader to lead a battle in online advertising and content with rivals Google Inc and Facebook.
"I am very sad to tell you that I've just been fired over the phone by Yahoo's Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward," the outspoken CEO said in a two-sentence email to employees obtained by Reuters.
Yahoo is still one of the most popular destinations on the Internet but faces increasing competition from social networking service Facebook and from Google, which has a market value of $170 billion, 10 times more than Yahoo.
Yahoo said a new executive leadership council will help Morse in managing day-to-day operations as well as supporting "a comprehensive strategic review" to position the company for growth.
The decision to oust Bartz was reached by the unanimous vote of Yahoo's eight independent directors late last week, according to a person close to the company. Bartz, and co-founder Jerry Yang, who are also on the board, did not participate in the vote
"It's hard to say what direction they are going to head. What is the next step for Yahoo?" said YCMNet Advisors CEO Michael Yoshikami. "I'm not sure where they go right now. One wonders if this means that they might be ripe for a takeover."
Yahoo is worth about $16 billion, with much of that ascribed to its roughly 40 percent stake in China's Alibaba, the parent company of websites including Alibaba.com and Taobao. Yahoo also owns a stake in Yahoo Japan, along with Japanese mobile company Softbank.
"The immediate impact will not be much because I don't think Yahoo wants to sell its stake although Alibaba wants to buy it. It really depends on how Tim handles this, as in the past Carol has had a strong stance on this," said Hong Kong-based CLSA analyst Elinor Leung.
Bartz's ouster capped a decade-long fall from grace for a company whose shares traded at more than $125 in January 2000 during the dotcom bubble -- but now languishes at about a 10th of that level.
Bartz, who joined Yahoo in January 2009 and had more than a year left on her four-year contract with Yahoo, was slated to host a Q&A at the Citi Technology Conference at 1250 pm ET in New York on Wednesday.
Bartz had reserved a room at the St. Regis hotel in Manhattan for Tuesday evening, but a hotel receptionist reached over the phone said the booking had been canceled.
Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse will step in as interim CEO, and the company will search for a permanent leader to lead a battle in online advertising and content with rivals Google Inc and Facebook.
"I am very sad to tell you that I've just been fired over the phone by Yahoo's Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward," the outspoken CEO said in a two-sentence email to employees obtained by Reuters.
Yahoo is still one of the most popular destinations on the Internet but faces increasing competition from social networking service Facebook and from Google, which has a market value of $170 billion, 10 times more than Yahoo.
Yahoo said a new executive leadership council will help Morse in managing day-to-day operations as well as supporting "a comprehensive strategic review" to position the company for growth.
The decision to oust Bartz was reached by the unanimous vote of Yahoo's eight independent directors late last week, according to a person close to the company. Bartz, and co-founder Jerry Yang, who are also on the board, did not participate in the vote
"It's hard to say what direction they are going to head. What is the next step for Yahoo?" said YCMNet Advisors CEO Michael Yoshikami. "I'm not sure where they go right now. One wonders if this means that they might be ripe for a takeover."
Yahoo is worth about $16 billion, with much of that ascribed to its roughly 40 percent stake in China's Alibaba, the parent company of websites including Alibaba.com and Taobao. Yahoo also owns a stake in Yahoo Japan, along with Japanese mobile company Softbank.
"The immediate impact will not be much because I don't think Yahoo wants to sell its stake although Alibaba wants to buy it. It really depends on how Tim handles this, as in the past Carol has had a strong stance on this," said Hong Kong-based CLSA analyst Elinor Leung.
Bartz's ouster capped a decade-long fall from grace for a company whose shares traded at more than $125 in January 2000 during the dotcom bubble -- but now languishes at about a 10th of that level.
Bartz, who joined Yahoo in January 2009 and had more than a year left on her four-year contract with Yahoo, was slated to host a Q&A at the Citi Technology Conference at 1250 pm ET in New York on Wednesday.
Bartz had reserved a room at the St. Regis hotel in Manhattan for Tuesday evening, but a hotel receptionist reached over the phone said the booking had been canceled.
