Tele-fired: we’ve heard of being dumped on a Post-it, but fired over the phone from one of the biggest tech companies in the world?
 Click to enlarge |
This is precisely what happened to Carol Bartz, Yahoo CEO, who was ousted from the top seat by Chairman Roy Bostock by telephone yesterday.
“I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s chairman of the board,” Bartz, told staff in a memo send from her iPad.
“It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward.”
Carol Bartz replaced Jerry Yang as CEO in January 2009, was given the task of turning around the former stalwart of the Internet, after it managed to dodge a $47.5 billion takeover attempt by Microsoft.
Yahoo! has suffered hard losses at the hands of Google, although has a decent business in Australia, thanks to its partnership with the Seven Network, reported global earnings below estimates in its most recent financials in July.
Chief Financial Officer, Tim Morse, will take over the top role for the interim and is actively looking for a permanent replacement, the company said in a press release.
Yahoo! also confirmed Bartz has been “removed” from her post.
Investors reacted well to the news with shares rising as much as 8.4 percent, according to Bloomberg.
Analysts also welcomed the move, but are now citing a possible sale of the web portal to a major media conglomerate like News international.
“After all of the drama of the Bartz administration, we think the Yahoo! board of directors may be more receptive to a deal now than it has been in the past,” said Jordan Rohan, analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
And Rohan is also citing a major management and strategy overhaul, at the very least.
Chairman Bostock declined to comment on the tele-firing but did say:
“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.”
“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.“
