Welcome, Carol. What’s the Vision?

by Ken Schachter on 14 January 2009, 12:51

Categories: Archives - Computers - General news - Media - Internet - Finance
Topics: google , microsoft , yahoo , ubs , Carol Bartz , Sue Decker , Jerry Yang

 
Shareholders of Yahoo cheered the company’s selection of Carol Bartz as the new chief executive, pushing the stock price up $.25, or 2.1 percent, to $12.35 in afternoon trading while major averages slumped.

The selection of Ms. Bartz Tuesday capped Yahoo’s two-month search for a chief executive to replace co-founder Jerry Yang, who will resume his role as chief Yahoo. Yahoo President Sue Decker, who had interviewed for the top job, said she would leave the company after a transition period.

In a research note, UBS analyst Benjamin Schachter called Bartz, who led Autodesk for 14 years, a “solid choice,” but noted that she gave “no concrete indication” of her vision for Yahoo.

Among the strategic options on the table are a possible search deal with Microsoft, whose acquisition proposal worth more than $31 per share on February 1 was rejected as insufficient during the regime of Mr. Yang.

Sunnyvale, California, company has struggled in recent years to reignite its business as Google became the dominant provider of online consumer search services.

“Given the recent stagnation at Yahoo, we think almost any movement from here will be forward,” said Mr. Schachter (no relation to the reporter).