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Yahoo issues statement on Bartz firing, announces ‘leadership reorganization’

Trevor Mogg
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Yahoo CEO Carol BartzAccording to AllThingsD, Carol Bartz has announced her departure from Yahoo. At the start of today she was the company’s CEO. Not anymore.

AllThingsD managed to get hold of an email from Bartz, sent to Yahoo staff, in which she said she had been fired.

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She wrote:

“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.” She had been with the online media company since January 2009.

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CFO Tim Morse has taken on the role of CEO in the meantime.

According to reports, Morse informed senior staff at Yahoo on Tuesday afternoon that Bartz was no longer with the company and that the hunt was on for a permanent CEO.

UPDATE:

Yahoo has just released a statement titled: “Yahoo! Announces Leadership Reorganization”.

The statement begins by confirming the news of Bartz’s departure: “Yahoo! Inc., the premier digital media company, today announced a leadership reorganization under which the Board of Directors has appointed Timothy Morse interim Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately, replacing Carol Bartz, who has been removed by the Board from her role as Chief Executive Officer.”

It also reports comments made by chairman of the Yahoo board, Roy Bostock: “On behalf of the entire Board, I want to thank Carol for her service to Yahoo! during a critical time of transition in the Company’s history, and against a very challenging macro-economic backdrop.”

Bostock continues: “I would also like to express the Board’s appreciation to Tim and thank him for accepting this important role. We have great confidence in his abilities and in those of the other executives who have been named to the Executive Leadership Council.”

Bartz was brought in to put Yahoo back on track after several years in the doldrums. However, the company continues to struggle, and board members and investors have decided it’s time for a change.

Bartz was chairman of software maker Autodesk for two years before moving to Yahoo, replacing Jerry Yang. Before Autodesk, she spent nine years at Sun Microsystems, rising to the number two position there.

Below is the Yahoo statement in full:

“SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), the premier digital media company, today announced a leadership reorganization under which the Board of Directors has appointed Timothy Morse interim Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately, replacing Carol Bartz, who has been removed by the Board from her role as Chief Executive Officer.

The Board has also named key senior Yahoo! executives to a newly formed Executive Leadership Council tasked with supporting Morse in managing the Company’s day-to-day operations until a permanent chief executive is appointed, as well as supporting a comprehensive strategic review that the Board has initiated to position the Company for future growth.

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. We are committed to exploring and evaluating possibilities and opportunities that will put Yahoo! on a trajectory for growth and innovation and deliver value to shareholders.”

Bostock continued, “On behalf of the entire Board, I want to thank Carol for her service to Yahoo! during a critical time of transition in the Company’s history, and against a very challenging macro-economic backdrop. I would also like to express the Board’s appreciation to Tim and thank him for accepting this important role. We have great confidence in his abilities and in those of the other executives who have been named to the Executive Leadership Council.”

In addition to Morse, who will also continue in his role as Chief Financial Officer of Yahoo!, the Executive Leadership Council will consist of Michael Callahan, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary; Blake Irving, Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer; Ross Levinsohn, Executive Vice President, Americas; Rich Riley, Senior Vice President & MD, EMEA Region; and Rose Tsou, Senior Vice President, APAC Region. The Co-founders of Yahoo!, David Filo and Jerry Yang, will each continue as Chief Yahoo and will provide counsel to Tim and the Executive Leadership Council.

“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,” said Tim Morse, Interim Chief Executive Officer.

The Board is commencing a search for a permanent Chief Executive Officer and expects to engage the services of a nationally recognized executive search firm to help it identify candidates for the position as expeditiously as possible.”

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Ex-Yahoo CEO to get big pay-off

Carol Bartz was, by all accounts, rather surprised to be told in a phone call on Tuesday that her services were no longer required by online media company Yahoo.
“I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board,” the former CEO wrote in an email to employees.
If CNN’s calculations are correct, her sadness should be eased somewhat by a generous severance package comprising millions of dollars.
Some of the severance payments are linked to Yahoo’s stock performance over the next twelve months, stock which incidentally jumped in value following her departure. No doubt Bartz had bitter-sweet feelings on hearing that news.
“Bartz pulled down a base salary of $1 million per year as CEO of Yahoo, and piled up tens of millions more in stock grants and cash bonuses,” CNN’s Julianne Pepitone wrote on Wednessday.
Bartz had more than a year left on her contract when she was, as Yahoo put it, “fired without cause.” Kicking her out before her time was up meant that she was entitled to a hefty pay-off, and according to Pepitone, there’s a fair amount of cash involved. “Bartz's contract gives her a lump sum of $3 million, plus a pro-rated 2011 bonus that will add an additional $1 million to $2 million to the coffers,” she writes.
The stock grant payouts could total somewhere in the region of $5 million. On top of that, if Yahoo stock is performing well at the end of next year, Bartz will also be able to cash in around five million shares.
Even though she must be feeling more than a little disgruntled at the way she was unceremoniously dumped by the Sunnyvale-based company, she must surely be hoping it goes on to bigger and better things in her absence.

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Yahoo! ‘not for sale,’ says co-founder Jerry Yang
fundador Yahoo Jerry Yang

Yahoo! is "not for sale," says the company's co-founder, director and former chief executive, Jerry Yang.According to AllThingsD's Kara Swisher, Yang made the clarification about the status of the struggling web company during a "prequel" to an "all-hands" meeting with all 13,500 Yahoo! employees, which is set to take place at 11am PST. Yang's statement follows Tuesday's blockbuster news that Yahoo! CEO Cara Bartz was suddenly fired, "over the phone," and replaced with CFO Tim Morse, who will serve as the Internet giant's interim chief executive. In a prepared statement on the matter, Yahoo announced that it is currently in the search for an executive to permanently replace Bartz, a move reportedly reiterated by Yang during today's preview meeting. In addition to Bartz's ousting, the Wall Street Journal cited an anonymous source, who told the paper that Yahoo! "is open to selling itself to the right bidder." Many took this as confirmation that the company is, in fact, up for sale. "[That statement is] the equivalent of sticking a FOR SALE sign on the lawn," wrote Henry Blodget in Business Insider. In addition the the anonymous tip, other reports indicated that Yahoo! had been hiring advisor firms, like Allen & Co., to help decide its options. Of course, this is all precluded by Yahoo!'s consistently poor performance, financially. The company's stock price took a drastic dive during the economic downturn of 2008, and has been unable to regain much ground in the years that have followed. Yahoo!'s company-wide meeting is just beginning at the time of this writing, so check back for more updates as new information becomes available.

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Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz fired, CFO Tim Morse named interim CEO

Yahoo’s board has made the decision fire Carol Bartz as the company's CEO. Tim Morse, Yahoo’s CFO, has been named the interim CEO while the company searches for a new permanent CEO. This rumor came from AllThingsD and has since been confirmed by Yahoo and Bartz, but the company did not add any details surrounding the reasons behind the move.
Bartz was named CEO in January of 2009, and since that time there hasn’t been any real improvement in Yahoo’s business. Clearly Yahoo had hoped that the time under Bartz would have been more fruitful or else it would not have made such a drastic move. There have been rumors about Yahoo being for sale, and it is still one of the remaining suitors for the purchase of Hulu, so it will be interesting to see how this decision affects these rumors.
We will be following this story, and will provide any updates we can. Here is an email from Bartz to Yahoo employees about being fired:
“To all,
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.
Carol”
 

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