In one fell swoop, three top execs are abandoning Yahoo, including U.S. head Hilary Schneider, U.S. Audience head David Ko, and VP of Media Jimmy Pitaro.
"
This entire mess -- and that's precisely what it is --
calls into question the tenure of [CEO Carol] Bartz ... who was brought in to clean up Yahoo after the maelstrom around the failed takeover attempt by Microsoft several years ago." Sources tell
BoomTown that Yahoo board members convened an emergency meeting this week to figure out how to deal with the mess.
Suggesting that Bartz's days are numbered, "Some speculate that
they will hire a second-in-command to Bartz, who might be able to take over for her when her contract is up in 18 months."
The Wall Street Journal made sure to
point out that the exodus "adds to a long list of recent departures under Chief Executive Carol Bartz."
Barclays internet analyst Doug Anmuth predicts that "the huge management tumult" at Yahoo isn't likely to hurt the company's stock, notes
paidContent's David Kaplan.
"But he, and several Yahoo Newspaper Consortium partners I spoke to, say that while things may remain stable in the short term, there
are increasing worries about what happens over time, as it's becoming increasingly difficult for Yahoo to attract top talent," Kaplan added.
Noting that Yahoo's shares have barely
moved since Bartz's arrival, MediaBeat asks: "Is Bartz Yahoo's ultimate under-performer?"
"The Yahoo CEO has another 18 months on her contract," adds MediaBeat. "But if
she's not able to swiftly replace Schneider and other defectors with executives who give Wall Street confidence, the board could well move to cut things short."
Schneider is expected to stay on until Yahoo can find a suitable replacement.
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