Contentinople - Erin Barker - News Bits: Bartz! Takes! Control!

Written by Erin Barker

Wednesday, January 14. 2009 at 11:50 AM EST Post a comment

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"Yahoo!" was new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz's first word of her first Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) conference call yesterday at 5:30 p.m. The former Autodesk Inc. CEO was announced as Jerry Yang's successor yesterday, and after facing some misgivings about whether or not someone from the CAD industry was really suited for the job, she seems to have won the public over by, well, making quite a first impression.

Bartz, who reportedly kicked off her duties at Autodesk from a hospital bed after being diagnosed with cancer two days into the job, didn't mince words on yesterday's call.

The self-proclaimed "straight-shooter" ordered the media to give Yahoo some "friggin' breathing room." [Ed. note: Yes, ma'am!] After noting that the company "frankly, could use a little management," and announcing that her "focus is on turning the company around," she cut the 15-minute conference short to run off to a no-doubt-more-important management meeting.

But look out -- she'll be back on Jan. 27 for one of her first challenges as CEO -- delivering Yahoo's sure-to-be-dismal fourth-quarter results.

In other Yahoo News:

The selection of Bartz as CEO is expected to grease the wheels on a search deal with Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT). All Things D's Kara Swisher reported that an anonymous source called the deal "ticked and tied," which apparently means that it could be signed as soon as Yahoo's earnings report on Jan. 27.

Another effect of the Bartz pick: Yahoo president Sue Decker, who had also been in the running for the role, has resigned after nearly nine years with the company. She'll stay on for an undetermined transition period. In her farewell memo to her fellow "Yahoos," she called Bartz "a decisive, passionate leader that I believe will serve Yahoo! well as it embarks on the next phase of its evolution." Some are suggesting that chairman Roy Bostock should be the next to resign.

Tags: Business, Headcount, Hires, Microsoft, Search, Yahoo

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