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Rats Abandon Yahoo

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.  

Read the whole story at All Things D et al »

2 comments about "Rats Abandon Yahoo".
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  1. Peter Kools from Kools Consulting, September 30, 2010 at 5 p.m.

    You can't have it both ways - everybody complaining Yahoo! is underperforming, too slow to respond and massive layers while at the same time it's a crisis when senior managers leave the company. These are the same managers that own the underperformance. Be part of the solution or move along.

  2. Jerry Foster from Energraphics, October 1, 2010 at 2:35 a.m.

    If Yahoo's been top heavy, they've been needing to shed those who make $200K per year. Nothing in the article discusses how important they were and whether their innovative activity was stifled.

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