Chaos at Yahoo: Execs Leaving; Bartz Future in Question
Although LinkedIn CEO (and former longtime Yahoo employee) Jeff Weiner yesterday said Yahoo is in position to do for browsing what Google did for search, the turmoil continues within Yahoo headquarters.
Yahoo will announce the resignation of three more executives — Hilary Schneider, head of Yahoo’s North American Region, David Ko, head of Yahoo’s mobile division, and Jimmy Pitaro, Yahoo’s media chief — after the markets close on Friday, All Things Digital reported.
Some Yahoo board members reportedly met this week to discuss dumping Bartz due to her inability to articulate a long-term vision for Yahoo or get the stock price moving. All Things Digital reported that Yahoo may hire a second-in-command to Bartz to take over for her when her contract expires in 18 months.
On the stock side, things should remain stable in the short term (although shares of Yahoo dipped more than 1 percent to $14.13 this morning), but there are increasing worries about the long term, as it’s becoming increasingly difficult for Yahoo to attract top talent, paid Content reported.
“We believe Yahoo’s management structure below [CEO] Carol Bartz has likely inhibited the company from attracting additional management talent, and may have been a factor in recently filling Joanne Bradford’s previous chief sales role,” according to Barclays Internet analyst Doug Anmuth. “While we cannot view these departures as positive for the company overall, we do believe they may help Yahoo attract higher quality talent and they are also likely to put more pressure on the executive management team.”
Bas van den Beld‘s column, Yahoo’s Split Personality: Let’s Help Them Out offers some more backstory on Yahoo’s fall since the failed Microsoft bid and Bartz’s arrival.