In a not so surprising move by Yahoo!, CEO Carol Bartz has been ousted by Internet company’s board. As Yahoo! continues to struggle, Bartz’s firing almost seems overdue to many. When the tough talking executive took over, Yahoo! accounted for 16 percent of all online revenues – today the former Internet leader manages just 11 percent. Yahoo! has to be considered in SOS mode at this point.
According to the reports, Yahoo! Chairman Roy Bostock did not even bother to meet with Bartz in person, but instead dropped the axe over the phone. In the interim, the company’s CFO, Tim Morse, was named chief executive. Yahoo!’s earnings in the second quarter of 2011 appear anything but dazzling (PDF).
The 62 year old Bartz still had a year remaining on her contract with Yahoo! Bartz’s style was not so popular for many during her tenure. Even early on it appeared clear her lack of Internet savvy compared to some, might cause her in effectiveness. Cussing out TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington from the get-go, seemed at best a classless display. Now it seems Yahoo! is back where it started – only worse off.
For this writer, this is one “I told you so” worthy of trumpeting. Bartz, Yahoo! in general, has squandered what anyone with a thimble full of brains would have to insist “was” the most leveraged position in the history of the Internet. Google is an excellent company, there’s no doubt, but steamrolling Yahoo! initiatives like soft tar into the landscape? Google, and now Facebook, to be honest, have not even had a hard time of it from Yahoo! The selection of Bartz, like so many Yahoo! fumbling, is just another dog and pony show.
The reader must understand, everyone at our offices was or is a fan of Yahoo! The frustration we all feel, millions of former users of Yahoo! must feel, is in watching a well laid out, even beautiful ship sink into the depths. Yahoo!, for those who have not a clue, was for years the most visited website in the world – it is still at the top for users – even news, as far as I know. The company could do far worse hiring me to be CEO, anyone with a bright idea and more than a mouth full of tough BS to spit at the world. Bartz was paid tens of millions of dollars for steering what will likely become the Internet’s Titanic.
Yahoo! Here’s my phone number, if you want to take a chance and engage Google + Facebook. Alternatively, my friend Loren Baker of Blueglass Interactive could do as well or better. +49 650 293 58459 Nuff said, for now.
About Phil Butler
