Fired over the phone: Yahoo chief Carol Bartz sacked after disastrous three years in charge

Daily Mail, By CHRIS PARSONS, 7th September 2011

• Troubled internet firm had lost ground to rivals
• Yahoo revenue growth 11 times less than Google
• Bartz 'fired over the phone' by Yahoo Chairman

Fired: Carol bartz has overseen a
 rocky three-year tenure at ailing
firm Yahoo

Yahoo boss Carol Bartz has been fired as the company's chief executive after the ailing internet firm lost further ground to main rival Google.

Ms Bartz, who was axed by phone, has had a rocky tenure lasting nearly three years punctuated by stagnating growth and a bitter row with one of the firm's Chinese partners.

The 63-year-old CEO, who was hired despite a lack of internet or advertising experience, told Yahoo employees that she was fired over the phone by Yahoo's Chairman of the Board.

Most recently, Yahoo have settled a payment dispute with China's Alibaba Group, in which Yahoo holds a 40 per cent stake.

Ms Bartz has also had to watch as Yahoo loses further ground as an internet domain to all-conquering Google, while also facing strong competition from other social networks like Facebook.

She announced her departure to employees via a two-sentence email from her iPad which read: '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.'

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The California-based company have appointed chief financial officer Timothy Morse as CEO on an interim basis, but plan to search for a permanent replacement for Ms Bartz.

At its peak in 2000, Yahoo shares traded for $125. Last night they closed at $12.91.

Yahoo lost further ground in the race against Google during Ms Bartz's tenure, despite actually making more money through layoffs, service closures and other cost-cutting moves.

Media moguls: Bartz, far right, attends a CEO summit in Washington
 alongside Richard Branson, Michael Capellas, president of Compaq,
Steve Ballmer, president and CEO of Microsoft, and Bill Gates

Last year Yahoo's revenue edged up by just two per cent in the first nine months of the year, while Google's climbed by 23 per cent in the same period.

In April the same year, the straight-talking boss candidly admitted that she 'could have done better' in her job, by which time speculation around her job was already growing.

A TROUBLED TENURE

• Jan '09: Bartz appointed Yahoo CEO, replacing co-founder Jerry Yang, who resigned under pressure from investors after rejecting a Microsoft takeover bid.
• July '09: Yahoo and Microsoft seal ten-year search engine merger deal in attempt to rival Google.
• April 2010: Bartz admits she, along with 100 other executives at Yahoo, 'could have done better'.
• Sept 2010: Yahoo's revenue growth for first nine months of year is 11 times less than that of Google.
• Dec 2010: The firm's poor financial growth forces Bartz to lay off between 600 and 700 employees.
• Feb 2011: Yahoo is valued at around $22.11bn, while Google is worth $169.38bn.
• May 2011: Row between Yahoo and Chinese partner Alibaba sees U.S. firm lose part of its 40 per stake in Asian company.

Facebook has also become another serious competitor for Yahoo by attracting the major marketing partners which once went to Yahoo during the dotcom boom in 2000.

The firm were forced to lay off over 600 staff - around five per cent of its workforce - last year due to lacklustre growth.

The departure was first reported by the Wall Street Journal's All Things D technology blog.

Yahoo shares jumped 74 cents, or 5.7%, to $13.65 in after-hours trading, around 12% higher than they were when Ms Bartz was named chief executive.

Roy Bostock, chairman of the Yahoo board, said: 'The board sees enormous growth opportunities on which Yahoo! can capitalize, and our primary objective is to leverage the Company's leadership and current business assets and platforms to execute against these opportunities.

'We have talented teams and tremendous resources behind them and intend to return the Company to a path of robust growth and industry-leading innovation.'

Embattled: The ailing Californian internet firm have lost ground
in the past two years to Google, while facing stern competition
from Facebook

Mr Bostock also thanked Ms Bartz for her service to Yahoo during 'a critical time of transition in the company's history, and against a very challenging macro-economic backdrop'.

Mr Morse said: 'It is an honor to be selected for this role and lead the Company with this world-class team of executives.

'I look forward to working with the Executive Leadership Council and the talented employees of Yahoo!, and to partnering with the Board to invest in the organization and continue to drive its ongoing growth plans.'