Yahoo! fires its CEO through phone call

SAN FRANCISCO - Agence France-Presse

Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz was fired over the phone by company chairman Roy Bostock, according to an email. REUTERS photo

Yahoo!’s board of directors fired chief executive Carol Bartz on Tuesday, less than three years after she was brought in to help turn around the struggling Internet company.

Yahoo! said Bartz was being removed “effective immediately” and that chief financial officer Timothy Morse would serve as interim chief executive while the board of directors searches for a new CEO.

Yahoo! also said it had named an Executive Leadership Council to carry out a “comprehensive strategic review” of the company.

“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,” Yahoo! chairman Roy Bostock said in a statement. While thanking Bartz, Bostock made it clear that the board believes the company has failed to live up to its potential.

Growth opportunities

“The board sees enormous growth opportunities on which Yahoo! can capitalize, and our primary objective is to leverage the company’s leadership and current business assets and platforms to execute against these opportunities,” he said. “We are committed to exploring and evaluating possibilities and opportunities that will put Yahoo! on a trajectory for growth and innovation and deliver value to shareholders.”

The 62-year-old Bartz, a former chief executive of business software company Autodesk, sent a brief email to Yahoo! employees announcing her departure.

“I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board,” said the email