DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) confirmedTuesday that Carol Bartz, former chief executive of software company Autodesk Inc. (ADSK), will succeed Jerry Yang as CEO, and said President Sue Decker will resign.
Chairman Roy Bostock said Bartz was "the only person to whom" Yahoo offered the job, citing her technology, executive and leadership skills.
The appointment ends Yahoo's two-month search to replace Yang, its co-founder and former CEO who oversaw the company through an acquisition offer from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and activist investor Carl Icahn's failed attempt to replace the Yahoo board.
Bartz, 60, will face a number of challenges as she tries to turn around Yahoo's flagging performance, including increased competition from Internet rivals such as Google Inc. (GOOG).
Bartz still serves as executive chairman of Autodesk, of San Rafael, Calif., which she ran as CEO from 1992 to 2006. Autodesk is about half the size of Yahoo, with approximately 7,000 employees world-wide.
Bartz was also an executive at Sun Microsystems Inc. (JAVA) and has additional connections with Yahoo through two of her board positions. Bartz sits on the board of Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) with Yang and the Intel Corp. (INTC) board with Decker.
Yahoo's stock tumbled throughout 2008 and last October the company cut its global work force by at least 10%. The company has struggled more than Google because it is heavily exposed to the slumping Internet display-advertising market and it hasn't been as effective in making money from search ads.
Shares of Yahoo were up 1.9% to $12.33 in after-hours trading.
-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5285; john.kell@dowjones.com
Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=yl3e0jP09cP315g3He22hA%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

Publié le 13 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones